Not ONE of the Tory leadership candidates tonight said they would put Boris Johnson in their Cabinet in a brutal moment on TV.
Tom Tugendhat, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch were asked twice to raise their hands if they would be happy to let the resigning PM serve - if he wanted to.
But none of them raised their hands despite being given ample chance to do so.
It came days after the first TV debate, where none of the candidates were able to say Mr Johnson was honest - and one, Mr Tugendhat, said he was not.
The candidates also tore strips off each other in the ITV clash, with Kemi Badenoch accusing Rishi Sunak of "dismissing" Covid loan fraud while Liz Truss accused him of leading the economy towards recession.
It came as the outgoing PM held a lavish party today at his grace and favour country retreat Chequers. He has previously moaned he could make more money in journalism.
The remaining five Tory leadership candidates were clashing in an ITV debate hosted by veteran presenter Julie Etchingham.
Earlier they took swipes at each other over Brexit, tax cuts and trans rights.
Penny Mordaunt claimed she was the victim of "toxic smears" over her stands on self-identification for trans people.
And an hour before the debate kicked off, Rishi Sunak took a shot at Liz Truss with a video pointing out he had backed Brexit all along - and she hadn't - and vowing to review 2,400 EU laws in 100 days.
Tomorrow one of the five the candidates will be eliminated in an MPs' ballot announced at 8pm - likely centre-right Tom Tugendhat.
The candidates will then be whittled down to three on Tuesday afternoon, with pundits and bookies expecting Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt to remain.
Those three will then clash in the final MPs' ballot, with right-wingers urging their colleagues to unite behind Ms Truss to keep Penny Mordaunt off the ticket.
Only two candidates can face a vote by 180,000 Tory members, with the new Prime Minister entering office on September 6.
Earlier the Tory environment chief threatened to resign if the new Prime Minister abandoned key climate pledges.
COP26 President Alok Sharma said “let’s see, shall we?” as he said some of the five candidates for leadership had been “lukewarm”.
All the candidates except Kemi Badenoch support the goal of Net Zero emissions by 2050, but several have dropped policies that would help achieve it, with Liz Truss pledging a pause on green levies on energy bills.
Today Tom Tugendhat pledged a massive expansion of the HS2 rail line beyond Manchester, saying: “I would make sure the HS2 tracks went all the way to Scotland."
Penny Mordaunt declared she will give Brits extra cost-of-living help this Autumn - but won’t tell anyone what it is until after she’s in No10.
Contender Liz Truss announced billions of pounds of tax cuts in a hustings on Friday, including reversing corporation tax and National Insurance hikes and pausing green levies on energy bills.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Ms Truss said she would seek to abolish "Stalinist" housing targets if she was elected.
Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat both ruled out leaving the European Convention on Human Rights after Liz Truss left the idea on the table.
Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat both backed the target to hit Net Zero emissions by 2050 but added caveats.
And Mr Tugendhat slammed the plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda as a “totem” - a symbol - but added it “is necessary”.
Despite pledging a “clean start” he said: “The way it will work is by showing extremely clearly that Britain simply does not tolerate human trafficking and the misery of slavery.”
Ms Mordaunt promised cost of living help in Autumn - though wouldn't say it was - while Mr Sunak toured a building site in £490 Prada suede loafers.
