PENNY Mordaunt appears to be the favourite among Scottish Conservatives to take over from Boris Johnson as leader of the party.
Johnson resigned as Tory party leader on Thursday following an avalanche of resignations from his Government but intends to remain as Prime Minister until a new leader is in place.
And it seems the trade minister is popular among Scottish Tories, with John Lamont describing her as an "effective communicator" on Times Radio and "strong on the Union".
According to The Times, she is seen as a socially liberal Brexiteer who would be a "unifying" figure for the party.
Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary and a former MSP, is also seen as a frontrunner in the leadership race.
Lamont, the Berwickshire, Roxburgh, and Selkirk MP, said on Times Radio that the “ability to communicate a Conservative message across all parts of the United Kingdom” would be key for the next prime minister.
“There’s a number of strong candidates but the person who continually has impressed me during my time as an MP and prior to that as an MSP is Penny Mordaunt and I believe she is a very effective communicator, very strong on the Union,” said Lamont, who ran Jeremy Hunt's leadership campaign in 2019.
Another Scottish Tory source told the paper they believed Mordaunt would be "very sellable in Scotland".
It is understood that Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, is waiting to see the contenders before backing a candidate.
He told STV: "I hope any candidate looking to replace the Prime Minister will look at how they can build some bridges that have been broken over recent months and years,”
David Mundell, the former Scottish secretary, added: “What we need, I think, is somebody who could unify the party, unify the country, frankly just be a little bit duller than the current incumbent and just really focus on getting the job done.”
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is also expected to fight in the contest while Tom Tugendhat, chair of the foreign affairs committee, and Attorney General Suella Braverman have confirmed they will run campaigns.
Other names being talked about are former chancellor Rishi Sunak, former health secretary Sajid Javid and senior backbencher Steve Baker.
