Penny Mordaunt today became the first MP to announce her bid for Prime Minister in a lightning-quick Tory leadership race.
The Cabinet minister - who calamity-struck Liz Truss beat to election by just eight MPs last time - made her bid public as she appeared to struggle to get an initial wave of backers.
Candidates need 100 MP nominations each by 2pm on Monday to get on the ballot paper, and Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson were both ahead of her in early-declared backers.
Only a maximum of three MPs will be able to get on the ballot paper, before being knocked down to two who go to a vote of party members.
She tweeted: "I’ve been encouraged by support from colleagues who want a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest.
"I’m running to be the leader of the Conservative Party and your Prime Minister - to unite our country, deliver our pledges and win the next GE."
Boris Johnson - who has dodged Parliament to lounge by a pool in the Dominican Republic while the government collapses - is expected to mount a shock comeback bid.
Three Cabinet ministers - Simon Clarke, Ben Wallace and Jacob Rees-Mogg - had already backed the rumple-haired lie accused former premier by 3pm today.
Tory MPs were today warned they will be making an “absolutely catastrophic decision” if they put Boris Johnson in power again.
Mr Wallace - who ruled out running himself - said the ex-PM would win an election and have a "mandate" from voters who backed him in 2019.
But his return threatens to rip the party apart as some backbenchers say he can stop the Tories being obliterated at the next election, while others threaten to quit in protest.
Mr Johnson is expected to fly back to the UK from his holiday in the Caribbean this weekend.
Government minister Jesse Norman said: “Choosing Boris would be an absolutely catastrophic decision.”
By this afternoon Rishi Sunak had picked up the largest number of MP supporters, ahead of Mr Johnson, while Ms Mordaunt looked in danger of failing to get the 100 names needed to enter the contest.
The Tories have sunk to their lowest poll rating in history as they attempt to pick a new PM without giving the public a say.
Labour’s Rachel Reeves today said the keys to No10 should not be handed around in a game of “pass-the-parcel” as calls grow for a general election.
The survey by People Polling found support for The Tories was down five points in a week to just 14%. This is believed to be the lowest the poll rating the party has ever had. Labour, which has the backing of 53%, now has a whopping 39% lead.
Ms Mordaunt lost her Tory ballot spot to Liz Truss by just eight votes in the MPs’ knockout stage over the summer.
Once a moderate, her campaign leaned hard into “culture war” issues, leading to claims Tories didn’t know what she stood for, and she later backed Ms Truss to some people's surprise.
Born to an ex-paratrooper, named after a Navy ship and related to both Angela Lansbury and Labour's first chancellor Philip Snowden, Ms Mordaunt was educated at a Catholic school, a drama school and Reading University.
Since becoming an MP in 2010 she had a string of jobs including Defence Secretary but was sacked from Cabinet by Boris Johnson.
The Royal Navy reservist, 49, also took part in reality TV’s Splash and said “cock” six times in a Commons debate as a dare.
She was outspoken despite being in Ms Truss's Cabinet, saying "our comms is s***" at a Tory conference event and publicly defying the PM to back calls to raise benefits by inflation.
In the dying days of Ms Truss's 44-day premiership she undermined the PM further after being sent to defend her in the Commons. Once there, Ms Mordaunt repeatedly referred to a "genuine" reason the PM could not turn up - only for it to turn out none existed.
In a reply that drew howls of laughter in Parliament she added: "The Prime Minister is not under a desk."
During the last leadership race she pledged a 50% cut in VAT on fuel. But she said only “looking at tax rises or cuts is a vast oversimplification of our economic challenges".
She said she would ditch housing targets saying they have been "tested to destruction".
