Liz Truss will be seeking to snatch support from her leadership rivals on the Tory right as she lays out her pitch to become prime minister, hours before candidates face elimination in the race’s second ballot.
The foreign secretary – who has the backing of Boris Johnson loyalists Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg – is expected to pledge to cut taxes and “level up in a Conservative way”, as one minister urged supporters of right-wing candidates Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman to “join Liz” instead.
After Jeremy Hunt and freshly-minted chancellor Nadhim Zahawi were both knocked out of the race on Wednesday, Penny Mordaunt emerged as a potential frontrunner after a YouGov poll found her to be a clear favourite among the Tory faithful.
Mr Hunt then pledged his support to Rishi Sunak – who topped Wednesday’s ballot after securing 88 votes to Ms Mordaunt’s 67 and Ms Truss’s 50 – and described the ex-chancellor as having the “highest standards of integrity”, just hours after having effectively accused him of having risked a UK recession.
