She is among the top candidates running for the post of Conservative leader. Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak took first in Thursday’s second round of voting by Conservative MPs for a new party leader and prime minister, with Ms Mordaunt second and Ms Truss third.
The eliminated candidate, Attorney General Suella Braverman, has backed Ms. Truss.
Ms Mordaunt addressed the electorate rather than party membership: “While my party elects a new leader, you watch as we elect your next prime minister, which is why this contest must be about you.
“At some point you will all vote, and you will see that not all politicians are the same.
“I am not the traditional offer, I am not the legacy candidate.
“I am focused on the future and I want our nation to be all it can be and to shine with the newfound freedoms that defined our great democracy.”
At the launch of her Tory leadership campaign on Wednesday, Ms Mordaunt presented herself as the “Labour most fears” candidate.
She pledged to return to the traditional conservative values of “low tax, [a] petty state and personal responsibility”.
The Commerce Secretary has committed to a 50 percent cut in fuel VAT to help alleviate the cost of living crisis, but has not gone as far as other candidates in the leadership race in offering tax cuts.
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Channel 4 will broadcast a debate between all candidates at 7.30pm BST, the first of two such events this weekend before the MPs’ next round of voting on Monday.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party was “not afraid of any of the candidates”, accusing them of “bickering like cats in a bag”.
With the conservative leadership field reduced to five, comments from the rival camps are becoming more bitter and personal.
Lord Frost attacked Ms Mordaunt, who once served under him, telling Talk TV she “failed to master necessary details” and was “absent on parade” during Brexit negotiations with the EU.
The 49-year-old Portsmouth North MP has been in and around government for most of a decade and even had a brief stint as a reality TV star.
She was a prominent proponent of Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum and is currently Minister for Trade Policy.
She headed the youth wing of the Conservative Party and was a press officer for William Hague when he was leader.