Support me or get Rishi, Liz Truss says as a warning to rivals on the Tory’s right as they fight each other… and Sunak still won’t commit to immediate tax cuts
- Truss fears no one on Tory Right will make it to the last two if support is spread too thin
- It came when Priti Patel debated whether or not to participate in a crowded field
- The right candidates are Nadhim Zahawi, Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch
- While the poll sees Secretary of State Penny Mordaunt as the favorite among Tory supporters
Liz Truss Last night, the Tory Right warned that it risks handing Rishi Sunak the keys to No10 unless it unites behind her.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs‘s allies urged her rivals in the Thatcherite wing of the party to end their campaigns and support her.
The dramatic plea came as Come on Patel debated whether he would join a crowded field of Tory Right contenders – it already includes Nadhim Zahawi, Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch.
Jacob Rees-Mogg He was rumored to be standing, but last night he locked himself out and said he “didn’t want to break right any further.” Leading backbencher Steve Baker has warned colleagues on the Brexiteer wing of the ‘serious danger of fragmentation’.
A poll of Tory grassroots last night put Penny Mordaunt, who has sparked controversy over her views on trans rights, as their new favorite. The shocking result raises the prospect of her meeting Mr Sunak in the final vote by party members.
Miss Truss fears that none of the Conservative Right will make it to the last two if support is spread too thinly among them.
Liz Truss (pictured yesterday leaving her London home) has warned the Tory.
An ally said: ‘The party’s right must make a quick decision. If the right doesn’t want Rishi Sunak to be prime minister, then they must unite behind a single candidate and that candidate is Liz. Liz is the only one who can keep the 2019 Prime Minister’s Coalition together, who will bring us back to correctly conservative principles about the economy and who has the experience to get started.
“But there is a real concern that if the right falls apart, Rishi and his supporters will be able to manipulate the match and get him to face someone to his left in the last two minutes.”
Miss Patel was debating last night whether she should replace Boris Johnson. But she told hardline Brexiteers that she was the best candidate to win the hearts and minds of the party.
Mr Sunak is about to officially make his bid today to become Tory leader and Prime Minister, while revealing former Chancellor Lord Lamont as the backer. Despite a torrent of pledges of tax cuts from some of his rivals, Mr Sunak will insist that he will not start cutting taxes until inflation has been ‘grabbed’ and brought under control. In response to attacks on his economic record, he will insist that he had to make some of the “hardest choices of my life.”
Over the next nine days, Tory MPs will narrow the candidates down to the two that will appear on the party ballot paper.
Attorney General Suella Braverman has already gained the support of key Brexiteers in the race to become prime minister
Late last night, Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the Backbench 1922 Committee, said the first vote of Tory MPs would take place tomorrow. Candidates need the support of at least 20 MPs to run for office – then at least 30 votes to advance to the second round. He said the winner would be revealed on September 5.
On another tumultuous day in the race to be the next PM:
- A poll by Savanta ComRes showed the Tories have fallen further behind Labour, with Sir Keir Starmer’s side now leading 15 points;
- Mr Zahawi pledged to cut 2 pence from the basic income tax rate, cancel a planned corporate tax hike and temporarily abolish VAT and green taxes on utility bills;
- Sajid Javid pledged to bring forward the planned 1 pence income tax cut to next year and warned Conservatives of “electoral oblivion” if they don’t change;
- The former health minister dodged questions if he had ever used a tax haven;
- Miss Truss vowed to start cutting taxes “from day one” when she officially launched her leadership campaign;
- Miss Mordaunt and Miss Badenoch topped a poll of party members conducted by the ConservativeHome website;
- Mrs Braverman told MPs from her party: ‘Don’t vote for me because I’m a woman, don’t vote for me because I’m brown, vote for me because I love this country and would do anything for it’;
- An ally of Miss Patel admitted to sharing a ‘dirty file’ on WhatsApp about Rishi Sunak, but insisted he hadn’t written it;
- The first live televised debate of the Tory leadership race will take place on ITV on Sunday evening;
- Johnson insisted he “wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s chances” by offering his support to a candidate to replace him.
During the Tory’s 2019 leadership race, there were suspicions that Mr Johnson’s campaign team had asked some backers to vote for Jeremy Hunt to ensure he made it to the final two, believing him to be easier to beat. would be.
Sir Gavin Williamson, who was a leading figure in Mr Johnson’s team, is now working on Mr Sunak’s campaign. A Tory source said: ‘Gav will try to get another no-hoper on the ballot with his man…he may even make sure it’s Jeremy again.’
Mrs. Braverman’s team joined calls last night for the Tory Right to unite behind a ‘Stop Rishi’ candidate, but she refused to back down. The Attorney General stole a march on her rivals by announcing her candidacy live on TV last Wednesday. An ally said: ‘The party right needs to come together in one person who both supports Brexit and really likes party members. It would be a disaster if they can’t.’
Ex-minister Steve Baker urged Mr Rees-Mogg to forgo any thought of adding himself to the long list of Conservative candidates
It has been suggested that Jacob Rees-Mogg would put himself forward as the ‘continuity Boris’ candidate, but he withdrew
Mr Baker, Mrs. Braverman’s campaign manager, said it was “nonsense to have candidates everywhere.”
He told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: ‘There is a danger of fragmentation. Kemi Badenoch has decided to stand up, I’m afraid as much as I love Kemi, it’s a little unlikely.
‘She hasn’t been in the cabinet; Suella has been in the cabinet.’
Rival campaigners last night said they believed Cabinet Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg was preparing to support Miss Truss.