This description of those currently deciding who could be the next prime minister, by former Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith, goes some way to explaining why there has been a spate of blue-on-blue attacks, “dark arts” and betrayal of many -Retained credits last week. After MPs finally succeeded in ousting the prime minister, the relief of electing a new leader was only momentary before infighting broke out again. “In terms of attacking candidates, it’s going to be a long, hot summer,” predicted Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, after an already tiring week of mudslinging. Another cabinet minister opined: “In the beginning, it was about choosing a candidate based on his vision, high ideals and philosophy. Over the weekend, that will change as people start to unite around who they want to stop from becoming Prime Minister.” With the leadership election scheduled to conclude on September 5, only a few days will be held behind closed doors in the confines of parliament. It will then spread across the country when the two remaining finalists battle it out for the support of Tory members. The journey so far has been dominated by updates and counter-updates, as the front-runners try to wrest back supporters from the laggards and another pick those who back their closest rivals. Candidates try to keep things on the surface, but allies and outsiders are free to act more independently – usually under the cloak of anonymity. Rishi Sunak has won the most plaudits from MPs, but has also attracted significant levels of vitriol. One figure in a rival camp branded him a “quisling” because they believed a senior figure in the former chancellor’s camp was spreading lies about their candidate. Rishi Sunak criticized after video shows him ‘having no working class friends’ – video Dorries, who is backing Liz Truss, accused Sunak’s team of “dark arts” for allegedly trying to find an easily winnable candidate in the bottom two with him and suggested Dominic Cummings was backing him. A government source said: “For six months, we’ve had to make these huge cost-of-living decisions and all this time Rishi has had this filter in his mind thinking how they’re going to play out in terms of his own leadership prospects – it’s shocking. “ Sunak’s supporters tried to put on a brave face, a laughing take on Michelle Obama’s response to Donald Trump’s attacks: “When they go low, we go high.” Mark Spencer, the Commons leader and one of four former chief whips backing Sunak, said this week he did so in part because “there are no skeletons in this cabinet”. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Such is the effort to ensure Sunak remains untainted that his die-hard supporters have taken it upon themselves to organize his entourage around parliament. A WhatsApp group called ‘the walkers’ was set up by MPs to coordinate the meeting and ferry the former chancellor between events to avoid being collared by colleagues and journalists. In particular, Penny Mordaunt, who surprised many MPs by beating Liz Truss in the first and second rounds of voting – and topped a YouGov poll of party members – has been the victim of particularly vicious coverage. Former Brexit secretary David Frost, a Truss supporter, claimed Mordant was a lousy MP and had asked Johnson to move her. Suella Braverman wasted no time after pulling out of the match attacking Mordaunt for women’s rights. Penny Mordaunt at her campaign launch. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA “The minister responsible, I’m afraid, has not stood up for women,” Braverman said, discussing the drafting of a ministerial maternity rights bill last year and claiming Mordant did not want the words “mother” or “woman”. ” to be included. Braverman later threw her weight behind Truss and is expected to take many of her supporters with her. Asked about the coverage against her on Sky News on Friday, Mordaunt described it as “black business”, saying: “People are obviously trying to stop me getting into the final because they don’t want to run against me.” He added: “You will see from my campaign that I am not involved in any of this.” Responding to Frost’s grandiose insistence that he would not serve in a Mordaunt government, supporter Simon Hoare tweeted: “Who the hell is an unelected, failed minister to tell any MP what to do? For some unknown reason David Frost constantly believes that we give a flying xxxx what he thinks. We don’t and we won’t.” Suella Braverman slams Penny Mordaunt for ‘not standing up for women’ in the past – video It may not rival the drama of Michael Gove backstabbing Johnson in 2016, but some loyalties have already been cast aside as the prime minister’s time in office draws to a close. Conor Burns, a minister in the Northern Ireland Office and such a staunch supporter that he claimed Johnson had been “ambushed with a cake”, was snubbed for promotion to the top cabinet post last week when it was vacated by Brandon Lewis. Mordaunt strongly backed Jeremy Hunt’s 2019 campaign but declined to back her bid and instead rowed behind Sunak. Sajid Javid was fended off by his former wingman, Chancellor of the Exchequer John Glen, who is backing Sunak, while chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke is backing Truss. An MP who supported Javid in the previous leadership race said that after he failed to secure a place on the first ballot – having garnered only 12 of the 20 required supporters – Javid approached them with tears in his eyes and begged to know why they had not he did it again. One of the defining elements of such contests is how they make every concerned MP suddenly a devotee of game theory, devising multiple narratives in which the downfall of an opponent could help their favorite, a hobby that reaches a crescendo in the corridor outside the committee. . room where the deputies voted. In the second round at noon Thursday, a Truss ally feverishly suggested to waiting reporters that Braverman and Kemi Badenoch were doomed and should “face reality” and throw their lot behind Truss, as unified candidate for the Tories. correctly. Liz Truss launches her leadership campaign. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters Less than a minute later, Braverman, as always overshadowed by her campaign frontrunner Steve Baker, was busy insisting to the same reporters that she was destined for the next round and thus a spot in the upcoming televised debates. Once viewers had a chance to see Braverman’s arguments firsthand, “all bets are off,” Baker predicted. Hours later, the attorney general dropped out of the race, leaving a final five. As attention turns to the final stages of the parliamentary leg of the leadership election, MPs fear a brutal weekend. Sources from the 1922 Commission, which set the rules for the short contest, admitted it was deliberately designed to run from Wednesday to Wednesday, allowing Sunday papers to interrogate and “weed out” uncomfortable policy positions and past behavior . So concerned are some camps about the dirt thrown at them by opponents that many are said to have hired media lawyers. The closely watched televised debates will also allow lesser-known candidates such as Mordaunt, Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat to be put through their paces, with each camp suggesting their rivals are likely to struggle under the spotlight. The stakes will only rise when the contenders are down to two. “There will be some grenades saved for August,” said one MP. “You can’t use all your ammo on people only in the knockout rounds.” Despite the humiliating nature of Johnson’s downfall, he is said to be still desperate to regain the popularity he achieved during his heady 2019 election campaign. A No 10 source suggested he believed he could “do a Churchill” and return, returning again if the new Tory leader loses the next election and resigns. Another Johnson loyalist said he was “still very angry” and would likely hit Sunak if he emerged as the next leader. But the privilege committee’s call for a mass of evidence on Friday, as it begins its investigation into Partygate, was a reminder that he and the wider Conservative Party will bear the legacy of his chaotic premiership for some time to come.
