The Brexit hardliner said the trade secretary disappeared during negotiations with the EU last year and became such a “problem” that he was forced to ask Boris Johnson to drop her from the talks. “I’m sorry to say that, I felt she didn’t know the detail that was necessary when we were in negotiations,” Lord Frost told TalkTV, attacking her credentials as a Brexiteer. “He would not always give tough messages to the EU when that was necessary.” The right-wing Tory peer added: “She was not always visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where it was. It became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the prime minister to proceed with it.” Saying he was “surprised” at her emergence as the top candidate, Lord Frost said: “Based on what I have seen, I would have serious reservations about [her becoming PM].” The former Brexit negotiator, who resigned at the end of last year, even suggested that Brexit would not be safe in Ms Mordaunt’s hands if she reached No 10. “If Brexit is going to be secure, it will need a few things,” he said. “One of those is the ability to be tough, clear, deliver tough messages … And I would worry, based on what I’ve seen, that we wouldn’t necessarily get that from Penny.” Leading Brexit analyst Mujtaba Rahman said Lord Frost’s view of Ms Mordaunt was “broadly shared in Brussels – with one important qualification. A senior EU official tells me he was “even less qualified than Frost”. An ally of Ms Mordaunt hit back at Lord Frost: “Peers could spend more time making a positive case for their own candidates rather than criticizing others – but some men love blue on blue, dragging our party and our unity in the mud. “ Admired by hardliners in the European Research Group (ERG), Lord Frost suggested he would soon throw his weight behind Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch or Suella Braverman. “All three of these candidates … are saying very interesting things, things that the country needs to hear. I will say something soon on this matter,” he told the competition. The rival camps of Ms Truss and Ms Mordaunt were engaged in a furious media war last night after the outsider shook up the race by running a close second to Mr Sunak – winning 67 to 88. One of Ms Truss’s allies said this is not the time for someone who needs “stabilisers”. But shock shock YouGov poll showed Ms Mordaunt would beat Mr Sunak by 67% to 28% among party members – a huge margin. Ms Truss appealed to Brexiteers claiming she was a “reluctant Remainer” in the 2016 Brexit referendum. “If I could vote now, I would vote to leave the European Union,” he told The Spectator. She added: “I was a reluctant Remainer. I was loyal to the Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron.” Tory MPs in the ERG are divided over which candidate will make the best case for Brexit. ERG chairman Mark Francois is backing Ms Truss, while several other leading figures in the group are rooting for Ms Braverman. Theresa Villiers, one of 28 Tory ‘Spartans’ who voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal three times, stunned her allies by backing Rishi Sunak in the first round. The second round of voting by Tory MPs takes place between 11.30am and 1.30pm on Thursday, with the result announced at 3pm.
