Speaking to BBC Two’s Newsnight, Sir Bob – who has publicly backed Mr Sunak – said: “On the economy point, he actually demonstrated that he’s a pragmatist with the economy. It’s thanks to his work as chancellor that we had the furlough scheme that actually saved millions of jobs.” Meanwhile Bob Seely, the Isle of Wight MP, said he would be considering Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt and Ben Wallace – all of whom are yet to declare – “more than any of the others”. “Rishi’s a great candidate and Bob, good for backing Rishi. Saj is a great candidate. For me, we’re living in a global political and economic crisis and above all, I want clarity of leadership. Over cost of living, over inflation, over Ukraine. And for me, Penny could do that, possibly Ben, for me at the moment the candidate who’s most likely to achieve that is going to be Liz because that is somebody who says what they mean and mean what they say.”
