Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, is still leading, having secured 13 more votes in Thursday’s run-off than he had the day before, and Mordant was edged out by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who added fewer MPs . the report despite its high-profile presentation earlier in the day. Suella Braverman was eliminated from the race after receiving 27 votes in the runoff, and immediately attacked Mordaunt on the issue of transgender rights. He criticized Mordaunt’s handling of legislation granting maternity leave to ministers last year – which Braverman was the first to take on. “Penny Mordaunt, as the bill minister, the minister responsible for passing the bill, objected and resisted the inclusion of the word woman and the inclusion of the word mother,” Braverman said. “I was quite disappointed with the way it was handled and the minister responsible, I’m afraid, did not stand up for women.” On Thursday night, Braverman, the attorney general and former chair of the hard-Brexiter European Inquiry Group, announced she would back Mr Truss’ campaign. Rival camps shared a video of Mordaunt debating the legislation in the Commons at the time, in which she says: “Let me say by suggesting, from this despatch box, that trans men are men, trans women are women.” He adds that “great care” was taken in drafting amendments to reflect this. Since launching her campaign, Mordaunt has tried to play down the idea that she is too “woke” for the tastes of Tory members. Meanwhile, Truss supporters, including former Brexit negotiator David Frost and chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke, have publicly raised questions about Mordan’s performance as a minister. Lord Frost, referring to Mordaunt when he was effectively his deputy during the Brexit talks, told TalkTV: “I’m sorry to say this: he didn’t get the necessary detail in the negotiations last year. She wouldn’t always give tough messages to the EU when necessary, and I’m afraid she wasn’t fully accountable or always visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where he was.” Clarke, who chose to back Truss over his boss Sunak, said: “It’s telling, I think, where the current members of the government stand. This is reflected in a number of decisions by very senior ministers about who they will support in this race – they are not supporting Ms Mordaunt.” Another Truss supporter, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, suggested the fight would “get a bit personal”, adding: “I really don’t know what Penny has done in the last two and a half years other than knowing the odd job title in which it was”. Mordaunt’s supporters said the ferocity of the attacks against her underlined how she had shaken up the race. “We are taking on two institutions – the financial establishment and the Boris establishment,” said one MP. At the start of her campaign, Truss tried to portray herself as a candidate for change, despite having the support of Boris Johnson’s ultra loyalists Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg. “I can lead, I can make tough decisions and I can get things done,” Truss said at a carefully choreographed event in Westminster attended by MP and cabinet supporters. “I am ready to be prime minister from day one.” Sunak secured 101 votes in the MPs’ second ballot, followed by Mordant with 83 and Truss with 64. Kemi Badenoch, the former equalities minister, and Tom Tugendhat also made it through to the final round, although the latter lost five supporters. Tugendhat, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said he would continue his campaign and take part in televised debates starting on Friday. In a press conference earlier in the day, Tugendhat acknowledged that he was being courted so heavily by other camps, hoping that he would fold his campaign and join those he felt “like a prom queen”. “I’m still in this fight,” he said. “What members of parliament and members of the Conservative Party need to know is that whoever they choose as leader in this process is someone who can stand up for those ideas and values in the next election in 2024. And then, I hope , maybe even in 2029”. He said the race was “one hell of a job interview”, but in an hour-long Q&A session with reporters the MP laid out plans for green growth, a pledge to look at the universally reduced rate of credit to reduce the cost of living crisis and a boost in defense spending. and the number of the army. Some MPs expect Tugendhat to withdraw before the third vote on Monday afternoon, unless he believes his performance in televised debates on Friday and Sunday has somehow catapulted him into contention. The chairman of the foreign affairs select committee told LBC Radio he did not think privatizing Channel 4 was a good idea and said he would not scrap the BBC’s license fee. The final rounds of voting will take place next week to narrow down the choice to two candidates. Conservative party members will then decide the winner. Braverman’s supporters were already being diligently pressured by other camps. An MP supporting the attorney-general suggested they would move, “mostly to Liz” – possibly helping the foreign secretary make some ground against Mordant. Braverman had made withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights central to her cause and said she would seek assurances from other candidates that they would do so. Speaking after she was ruled out of the race, she said: “I am absolutely amazed by the support I have received from many members of parliament, if not in their votes, certainly in their hearts.” Suella Braverman ruled out of Tory leadership race – video The YouGov poll of Conservative members published on Wednesday showed that either Mordaud could beat Mr Sunak in a head-to-head vote or that Truss could win if faced. But Sunak’s supporters insisted he would go ahead. Mark Harper, the former chief whip who supports Sunak, said the former chancellor is shaping the debate after calling for an end to “fairy tales” about the economy. “I’m very glad he didn’t [committed to tax cuts],” he said. “Some people are also promising massive increases in public spending. You have to say, ‘How are you going to pay for it?’ Harper said there were no dirty tricks by Sunak’s campaign or votes given to other candidates. He said former Chancellor of the Exchequer Mel Stride is running the campaign whipping operation in place of Gavin Williamson, the former education secretary, who has gained a reputation for the “dark arts” in leadership campaigns.
