Penny Mordaunt

Trade minister likens Boris Johnson to Paul McCartney playing new songs when people want the hits.

Asked which of the pair they would support, 67% picked Mordaunt, and just 28% went for the former chancellor. Seen by some as the “woke candidate” for her antipathy to the urge by some colleagues for the party to focus on “wedge issues” such as gender identity, Mordaunt stressed that she believed there was a “biological difference” between those who were born male and female. Mordaunt touted her Brexiter credentials, saying her plans for a “modern economy” focused on growth and competition, rather than tax and spending, would “yield a Brexit dividend”.

All the eight UK PM candidates, who received the support of 20 MPs, will now compete in the first round of voting scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

"...as Prime Minister, I will continue to deliver on the opportunities of the Brexit," she said in a video post. In a video announcing his candidature, he said, "We need leadership that returns government to service of our economy, our people and our country. 8. Nadhim Zahawi: "NZ4PM" is his hashtag for his social media campaign. He also aims to "replicate Ireland’s ‘Celtic tiger’ with bold business tax cuts that unleash the growth that’s been missing from our economy for too long". "I'm putting myself forward in this leadership election because I want to tell the truth. He launched a campaign "#Ready4Rishi" on social media. "#PM4PM" is the social media hashtag her supporters have been using to show solidarity with her. The elections were announced after Boris Johnson announced his resignation as the prime minister and leader of the UK Conservative Party earlier this month. She also wrote about free speech and free markets. The winner will become the new Tory leader. She emerged winner in a survey published by ConservativeHome, that looked at how Conservative party members would vote for all the candidates in one-to-one contests, a report said. The new UK PM will be announced on September 5.

Sunak Wins First Round of Tory Contest to Succeed Johnson · Former chancellor gets 88 votes, Mordaunt second with 67 · Next ballot of Conservative MPs is ...

Scramble is on for Tory hopefuls to pick up the votes of Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi, who have been eliminated.

That could all change with the TV debates on Friday and Sunday. With Braverman likely to be eliminated in tomorrow’s vote, the remaining five are set to participate. After the announcement, one ally of the Foreign Secretary described the results unenthusiastically as “solid”. She will have lost votes to Braverman and to Kemi Badenoch, who was only ten votes behind her. One ally of Sunak, the former chancellor, predicted that some survivors may fail to secure the requisite 30 votes tomorrow as MPs focus on the leaders.

Onetime Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt, is emerging as the biggest threat to former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak's campaign to lead the ...

- Opinion: Putin and the UFO Sightings You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. Seen as a long shot only days ago, she became the odds-on favorite Wednesday at betting houses in Britain after several polls showed her topping popularity polls with grass-roots Conservative members.

The trade minister launched her pitch to be the next prime minister by assuring Conservative MPs she is best placed to keep them their seats.

“Well, they’re very sensible people because I’m a threat to their campaign,” she said, but added that the only people she will take the fight to is the Opposition. She argued that having stood on the same platform as Mr Johnson and other Tories in the 2019 election “we have a mandate and a big majority”. “I’m the candidate that Labour fear the most – and they’re right to,” she told Conservatives and reporters closely crammed into the sweltering room. The long-term Brexit backer said the Government supply side reforms would yield a “Brexit dividend” on investment, infrastructure and innovation. Leadership contender Penny Mordaunt has told Conservative MPs fearful of losing their seats under Boris Johnson that she is the candidate “Labour fear the most”. But she insisted she is “very different” from her would-be predecessor but indicated she would not call an early general election to win her own mandate if she entered No 10.

Ex-chancellor and trade minister will face four other candidates in next round of voting by MPs.

She clashed with right-wing Conservative MPs at a major hustings event attended by the six candidates left in the contest after the first round of voting.

At the 1922's hustings Sir John, a leading supporter of Ms Braverman, challenged Ms Mordaunt on the issue and was later said by colleagues to be "incandescent" at her reply. Ms Braverman is now one of Ms Mordaunt's leadership rivals and has already criticised her over a move to replace "woman" with "pregnant person" in the 2021 legislation. And she was challenged at a hustings staged by the 1922 Committee over her handling of a bill to allow Attorney General Suella Braverman to take maternity leave last year.

Jeremy Hunt and Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi were both eliminated in the first round of voting among Tory MPs, with former chancellor Rishi Sunak topping the ballot ...

He said: “We will cut taxes and we will do it responsibly. That’s my economic approach. Around 160,000 Tory members will then choose the next party leader and prime minister. Elsewhere, former army officer Tom Tugendhat, who has pledged to boost defence spending, took a thinly-veiled swipe at Mr Sunak’s refusal to set “arbitrary targets” in this area, telling reporters: “We will never put the safety of our country in doubt because of bean counters and spreadsheets. The naval reservist and former defence secretary pledged to return to traditional Conservative values of “low tax, small state and personal responsibility”. Mr Rees-Mogg argued that the Foreign Secretary is “fiscally on the right side of the argument”, unlike Mr Sunak. The minister told Sky News that Ms Truss “opposed the endless tax rises of the former chancellor, which I think have been economically damaging, I also was opposed to (them) in Cabinet”. Ms Mordaunt officially launched her campaign yesterday by telling colleagues who had been fearful of losing their seats under Mr Johnson’s leadership that she is their “best shot” at winning the next election. Ms Dorries, the Culture Secretary, accused the former chancellor’s campaign of deploying “dirty tricks” and backed Ms Truss as the Brexiteers’ candidate. Scottish Tory MP John Lamont, who is backing Ms Mordaunt, said the result of the first round of voting was “promising”. “Everyone in our great country should be born with the same opportunities and be able to know that the town they are born in has opportunity”. Mr Hunt, who failed to get the 30 votes required to get to the next stage, has held the offices of health and foreign secretary and lost to Mr Johnson in the 2019 leadership race.

London | Former chancellor Rishi Sunak and Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt have emerged as the front-runners in the race to become the new Conservative party ...

He has won the backing of Tory big-hitters including Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Health Secretary Steve Barclay in his campaign for the top job. MPs could re-allocate their votes in a way that some combination of Ms Truss, Ms Mordaunt and former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch make it as the final pair. The new leader will be announced on September 5, after an estimated 175,000 grassroots party members have made their final choice following six weeks of summer hustings. Much will depend on the vote re-allocations and whether the candidates impress their fellow MPs in hustings and televised debates in the days to come. “I can lead, make tough decisions and rise to the moment.” For example, the strongly pro-Brexit caucus of Tory MPs, who have largely been backing Ms Braverman, could yet shift their support to either Ms Truss or Ms Mordaunt to help propel them into the final two.

'I didn't even know where she was,' says ex-negotiator in scathing attack on favourite's Brexit credentials.

Ms Truss has appealed to Brexiteers by claiming she was a “reluctant Remainer” at the 2016 Brexit referendum. “All three of those candidates … are saying very interesting things, things that the country needs to hear. ERG chair Mark Francois is backing Ms Truss, while several other leading figures in the group opt for Ms Braverman. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. The right-wing Tory peer added: “She wasn’t always visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where she was.

Penny Mordaunt has had a busy week, after officially launching her Conservative leadership bid on Monday. She faced some difficult questions from ...

At the time her appearance on Splash proved controversial. The MP appeared on the show back in 2014ITV The MP appeared on the diving contest in 2014, and now a clip of her belly flopping into a pool in front of millions of viewers has resurfaced online.

The trade minister launched her pitch to be the next prime minister by assuring Conservative MPs she is best placed to keep them their seats.

“Well, they’re very sensible people because I’m a threat to their campaign,” she said, but added that the only people she will take the fight to is the Opposition. She argued that having stood on the same platform as Mr Johnson and other Tories in the 2019 election “we have a mandate and a big majority”. “I’m the candidate that Labour fear the most – and they’re right to,” she told Conservatives and reporters closely crammed into the sweltering room. The long-term Brexit backer said the Government supply side reforms would yield a “Brexit dividend” on investment, infrastructure and innovation. Leadership contender Penny Mordaunt has told Conservative MPs fearful of losing their seats under Boris Johnson that she is the candidate “Labour fear the most”. But she insisted she is “very different” from her would-be predecessor but indicated she would not call an early general election to win her own mandate if she entered No 10.

Tory members predict trade minister will rise to top as former chancellor fails to clinch a high percentage of first round votes.

Former Brexit minister and other Liz Truss allies hit out at Mordaunt after she came second in first ballot.

“Even if the style is different, the substance will not be very different.” Mordaunt, who had little interaction with the EU during her ministerial career, is not well known in Brussels. Those who have followed her career are not enthused about her moving to No 10. “I’m afraid this became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the PM to move her on and find somebody else to support me. In an interview with the Spectator she suggested tax cuts could be paid for through extra borrowing. She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the EU when that was necessary and I’m afraid she wasn’t fully accountable or always visible. “I’m sorry to say this, she did not master the necessary detail in the negotiations last year.

Penny Mordaunt's belly flop on ITV series Splash! goes viral as politician competes to become the next Prime Minister of the UK.

‘We will stand with Nato in defence of our common values and we will not flinch from the hard graft and putting boots on the ground on the alliance’s borders.’ Following her bid for leadership, Ms Mordaunt has vowed to make defence the ‘first duty’ of government should she emerge victorious in the race for Number 10. ‘Petition for ITV to put all episodes of Splash! on Demand if Penny gets to the final 2,’ one penned.

Tories in the British Parliament cast their first-round of votes on Wednesday to pick a candidate to replace outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson as head ...

Sunak promised to confront the difficult economic backdrop with “honesty, seriousness and determination,” rather than piling the burden on future generations. After his elimination from the race, Hunt announced that he was backing Sunak for the position of prime minister. In practice, some lawmakers often retract their candidacy, speeding up the process.

Latest updates: foreign secretary says she is 'ready to be prime minister on day one' as another round of voting is due to start.

He was also reluctant to discuss what role Gavin Williamson was playing on his campaign, and, when asked if Williamson was a good education secretary, he sidestepped the question. I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. But now the main threat is coming from Penny Mordaunt, and Truss will take a swipe at her by implying she does not have the experience to be PM from day one. I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary in the negotiations last year. Whenever I have needed to step in to support people I have and furlough is a fantastic example of that. (Mordaunt has served in cabinet, but as international development secretary, one of the most junior jobs, for about a year and a half, and as defence secretary for less than three months.) Sunak, the former chancellor and Tory leadership candidate, said that “of course” he intended to stay in the UK if he did not become prime minister. She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the European Union when that was necessary. Sunak played down claims that Sir Gavin Williamson, the former Tory chief whip and former education secretary, is playing a major role in his campaign. Truss has the support of Boris Johnson loyalists in the party and in the media (especially the Daily Mail), but it feels as if all the candidates in this contest can’t yet work out whether they are supposed to be praising Johnson and his legacy, or rubbishing him. That claim is half justified by recent polling from Ipsos Mori, which shows more people think he is likely to make a good PM than they think Keir Starmer is, or any of the other Tory leadership candidates are. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, is officially launching her campaign for the Conservative party leadership this morning but within the last 24 hours she has probably been revising her script quite considerably.

In an excoriating interview on TalkTV just now, Lord Frost says he has 'grave reservations' about Penny Mordaunt becoming the prime minister.

The former Brexit negotiator, who quit Boris Johnson’s cabinet last year, told Julia Hartley-Brewer ‘To be honest, I'm quite surprised she is where she is in this race. I’m this became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the PM to move her on. Our country needs a leader who is tested and ready.’ Ouch.

FORMER Brexit minister Lord Frost has launched a scathing attack on Tory leadership contender Penny Mordaunt, saying she was not up to the job when…

“Anybody can be photo’d in a video with I Vow To Thee My Country, but it is what you do in practice. She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the European Union when that was necessary. MPs are voting today and I think they need to know the facts.

Seemingly from nowhere, the Minister of State for Trade Policy has become one of the front-runners in the battle to replace Boris Johnson in September.

Indeed, she's got a strong military background: her father was a parachuter before retraining as a teacher, and she was named after HMS Penelope. She was also a member of the Royal Navy from 2010-2019, and is currently the only female MP who is a Royal Naval Reserve. It is her military knowledge and experience that she hopes might help her get the top job at No 10, particularly in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. An MP for Portsmouth North since 2010, Penny's first big roles in government were under David Cameron, when she was both Armed Forces Minister and Defence Secretary, becoming the first woman to hold the former role. According to a report published in the Daily Mail earlier this week, only 11 per cent of the public can identify MP Penny Mordaunt when shown a photograph of her.

Rishi Sunak topped the first ballot of Tory MPs yesterday with 88 votes ahead of Penny Mordaunt on 67; The trade minister has become the bookies' favourite ...

And I'm afraid this became such a problem that after six months, I had to ask the Prime Minister to move her on and find somebody else to support me.' Mr Sunak also faced questions after failing to land the knockout blow his team had been expecting. However, separate research by Savanta ComRes tonight underlined the challenges Ms Mordaunt would face with the wider electorate. Late July and August - CCHQ will assume responsibility for leadership election and will send out ballot papers to around 200,000 Conservative Party members. 'I think our number one economic priority is to tackle inflation and not make it worse. But of course it doesn't.' The lowest-scoring candidate will be eliminated each time. One source said the rivals should 'recognise the reality of the situation'. Penny Mordaunt (right) performed better than expected in the first round. She has been installed as the bookies' favourite after bombshell polling suggested that she would win head-to-heads against any of her rivals. 'We are at a critical moment for our country,' she said. Ms Truss's team have unveiled ministers Ed Argar, James Heappey and Tom Purseglove as new backers.

Currently second to Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership contest, Penny Mordaunt has fast become a serious candidate to be the next prime minister.

Anything but blue please". During 1922 Committee hustings on Wednesday she was also criticised for opting to replace the words "woman" and "mother" with "person" in legislation that allowed her leadership rival Suella Braverman to go on maternity leave. A member of the British Astronomical Association, she has four Burmese cats and is now the only known Navy reservist in the House of Commons. Told by judges she had the "elegance and drive of a paving slab" and criticised by her Labour rivals for not focusing on her day job, she claimed she did it so she could donate most of her £10,000 fee to saving a lido in her constituency. In order to fund her studies, she worked in a Johnson and Johnson factory and as a magician's assistant to the then-president of the Portsmouth Magical Society and British Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. In 2014 she caused uproar with some in her party and those on the Labour benches when she admitted that she made a speech during a debate on poultry welfare the year before as a forfeit from her Navy colleagues. She was accused of "trivialising parliament" after revealing in an award acceptance speech that she used the word 'cock' 'lay' and 'laid' several times to make up for a misdemeanour during her reservist training. She was re-selected in January 2006 to contest the seat again and at the 2010 General Election she was voted in with a 7,289 majority. When she was finally able to leave home, she went to Romania for a gap year where she worked in orphanages and hospitals in the wake of the 1989 revolution that toppled the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. Having been active in student politics, after she graduated in 1995 she worked as head of youth for the Conservative Party under John Major and as head of broad of broadcasting when William Hague was in opposition. Reflecting on it in a 2019 interview with The Sunday Times, she said: "It was pretty relentless in terms of stresses and losing a parent, you're trying to deal with all of that and study, run a house, look after two brothers. A YouGov poll of Tory party members put her in first place, with her fellow MPs claiming she has worked relentlessly on the "rubber chicken circuit" of charity dinners and throughout her Portsmouth constituency to make a name for herself since being elected in 2010.

Former chancellor Rishi Sunak still leads the field among MPs, but socially liberal junior minister Penny Mordaunt could storm the postal vote in August.

“I’m afraid this became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the PM to move her on and find somebody else to support me. Although she backed Brexit in 2016, they are suspicious of her social liberalism and perceived softness on culture-war issues such as transgender rights. “There is a long way to go in that debate amongst the membership. She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the EU when that was necessary, and I’m afraid she wasn’t fully accountable or always visible. She would win a contest against Ms Truss by 55 per cent to 37 per cent. Although the contenders defy simple categorisation, Ms Truss, Ms Badenoch and Ms Braverman are seen to have been splitting the vote of the party’s right faction, robbing any one of them of the momentum to take the fight to Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt.

Analysis: Confident message from MP relatively untainted by association with Johnson seems to resonate with many Tories.

(Hunt has not returned the favour, swinging behind Sunak on Wednesday after winning just 18 votes in the first round). She is a trade minister – but unlike Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman or the ill-fated Nadhim Zahawi, did not sit in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, or form part of his inner circle. At her campaign launch on Wednesday, she took plenty of questions and parried them wryly – contrasting with the more senior Liz Truss’s woodenness at her own speech the next day.

Penny Mordaunt closed her gap on frontrunner Rishi Sunak as the race to succeed Boris Johnson at the helm of the U.K.'s governing Conservative Party ...

Johnson is staying on in an interim capacity while the leadership race plays out, and will step aside September 6, after the new leader is confirmed in the job. Truss, who earned the valuable backing of former Brexit negotiator David Frost Thursday, is popular among the Right of the Conservative Party, and both her and Badenoch, a former equalities minister who has run on a free-market, anti-‘woke’ ticket, are well-placed to gather up support from Braverman’s backers. Under Conservative Party rules, MPs get to have the first say on the field of hopefuls, eliminating the lowest-placed candidate in successive rounds of voting before the final two are put to a vote of the wider Tory membership.

Five candidates remain in the battle to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the UK Conservative Party and Prime Minister, as betting firms adjust their odds ...

A Labour-linked membership organisation has accused Penny Mordaunt of using their logo in her leadership campaign material.

The two logos do appear pretty similar, but they are both based on the Union flag which could go some way as explaining why. and tagged the MP. indy100 has contacted Mordaunt and Labour Friends of the Forces to comment on this story.

The result puts both on course to reach the run-off over the summer -- though the picture can still change -- when grassroots Conservative Party members ...

The Sri Lankan army statement comes in wake of the anti-government protests which continue amid the exit of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa from Sri Lanka. This comes after the military establishment refused acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe's directive to use force on the protesters. A Singapore foreign ministry statement, meanwhile, has ruled out talk of asylum for Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A Singapore foreign ministry statement, meanwhile, has ruled out talk of asylum for Rajapaksa. He might later move to the UAE, sources said. She also said she would cancel a planned rise in corporation tax. He added that he wanted to see tax cuts during this Parliament but declined to say when he thought they would be possible. Accusations of smears and lies between candidates were what the Conservative Party had been seeking to avoid when it came up with rules designed to accelerate the contest. Attorney General Suella Braverman was knocked out, under rules that remove the candidate with the lowest support. Polling shows Mordaunt, whose momentum has built rapidly in recent weeks, prevailing when the winner is announced on Sept. 5. The contest has been marked by growing rancor between rival campaigns. The next ballot is scheduled for Monday.

'Questions' follow on MP's past performance as trade minister after she gains ground over Liz Truss.

Mark Harper, the former chief whip who is backing Sunak, said the former chancellor was shaping the debate after a call for an end to “fairy tales” about the economy. Braverman had put withdrawing from the European convention on human rights at the heart of her pitch, and said she would be seeking assurances from other candidates that they would do so. Tugendhat, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said he would continue his campaign and take part in the televised debates starting on Friday. Clarke, who chose to back Truss in preference to his boss, Sunak, said: “It is telling, I think, where current members of the government are placing their support. Lord Frost, referring to Mordaunt when she was in effect his deputy during the Brexit talks, told TalkTV: “I’m sorry to say this: she did not master the necessary detail in the negotiations last year. “I was quite disappointed by the way it was handled, and the responsible minister, I’m afraid, didn’t stand up for women.”

LONDON — In the zesty but odd and insular contest to replace Boris Johnson as Britain's prime minister, an unlikely figure has emerged among the top ...

She was never in Johnson’s Cabinet and thus isn’t saddled with baggage from his administration they way the others are. At the same time, she can’t point to the same level of experience as Sunak or Truss. The tunes the Tories want to hear, Mordaunt said, included the words: “low tax, small state, personal responsibility. “In her favor, she has an attractive personality, she’s obviously fun, she sounds like a good sport. Yet even in Tory circles, she is something of a vague figure. Her mother died of cancer when Mordaunt was 15. David Frost, a former Brexit minister, launched a scathing attack on the politician who was once his deputy. The race to replace Johnson remains highly uncertain. Frost said, “She wasn’t fully accountable, she wasn’t always visible. Former Labour Party Prime Minister Tony Blair blurbed it: “Uplifting and highly readable.” On the other side of the balance, the thing she has to got to rebut are words like ‘flaky’ or ‘politics at the shallow end.’ She was once a magician’s assistant — you can’t cut the deficit in half.” Early favorites for party leader often go on to flop.

Five Conservative MPs remain in the race for the top job, but Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have firmed as favourites.

The winner is expected to be announced by September 5. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Her stocks continued to rise among MPs as she earned 83 votes compared to 63 for Truss.

Penny Mordaunt, who has served as the MP for Portsmouth North since 2010, is the favourite to become PM by Conservative Party members.

‘You need some policies at election time, but unless Mordaunt is planning to hold a snap election in the Autumn, she’s got plenty of time to sort that out,’ she explains. Mordaunt would have to provide solid policies while also being appealing to the wider electorate.’ She comes across with a posh, head girl manner that Tories really like, Tory members really like, and the rest fall for quite a lot.’ ‘She needs to have a deeply talented bench behind her. However, it seems Mordaunt has done a hard U-turn quizzed about some of her campaigning for more liberal policies. Some of the bigger political beasts have keenly taken shots against her, claiming that in her more senior roles the MP has been deeply incompetent. ‘She may not be a regular on our TV screens, but Penny has been high profile in the media Conservative Party members read such as Conservative Home webpage. ‘She is liberal but right wing economically so she can fish in both pools, where someone like Liz Truss can’t have that broad appeal.’ ‘As we’ve seen in the last few years, making big public mistakes doesn’t make the public hate you until you make them at their expense. She has a bit of a “jolly hockey sticks” attitude, but I feel that does go down really well with the Tory grassroots.’ Penny has inherited the Leadsom campaign, even launching at the same venue in Westminster as Andrea did in 2016.’ She’s also become the bookies’ preferred choice for the top job, with odds of 8/11.

LONDON — The surprise favorite to replace Boris Johnson as British prime minister is named after a legendary World War II battleship — the HMS Penelope, ...

She had no press spokesperson in place several days after Johnson quit, and is still in the process of building out a proper campaign team. “She would get through all the work in her ministerial box, and do what she needed to,” the person said. But if Mordaunt does become prime minister, she will need more than a book to introduce herself to the public. It’s no surprise if she wasn’t motivated to do lots of schmoozing and defending Downing Street in the media.” She has earned the nickname “Penny Dormant” among less-than-generous members of her team. “It might turn out that that was a motivation,” the former minister said. “No one knows what she is. One former minister who worked with Mordaunt argued Johnson may have unwittingly set her on course to succeed him when he abruptly sacked her as defense secretary in a “vindictive” act upon taking office in 2019. And she would comfortably beat every one of her likely opponents in that final head-to-head ballot, a series of polls have suggested. She is also the only serving MP known to have worked as a magician’s assistant, albeit in the distant past. “I’m not sure how she got away with it as a minister.” “We need people like you to fight the corner inside.”

ALLIES OF PENNY MORDAUNT have fired back against personal attacks and championed her support for Brexit just hours after Lord Frost tore into the Tory ...

"Just look at the MP colleagues who are backing her. Former Brexit Minister Lord David Frost took aim at ex-Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt yesterday as the Portsmouth North MP continues to gain momentum in the 2022 Tory leadership bid. The Attorney General said: "The responsible Minister, I'm afraid, didn't stand up for women and didn't actually reflect the views of a lot of our party on wanting women to be authentically represented on the face of the bill and in legislation." One MP claimed: "She said she had only had a day to read the bill." "Of all the frontrunners, she is the only one who voted for Brexit and campaigned passionately for it from the get-go." Speaking to Julia Hartley-Brewer, the ex-CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association said: "To be honest, I'm quite surprised she is where she is in this race.

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So the briefings have begun, in a contest where everyone promises to behave now sees off and on the record sniping from candidates. Approaching the second round and backed by a host of cabinet ministers, Mr Sunak had every reason to think this would sew him up as the successor, and confirm him in the final two. Team Rishi Sunak had expected a coronation, a stroll, with briefings just two days ago he wanted to have a 200 MP lead in the first round.