Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Graham Russell (now); Sophie Zeldin-O'Neill and Harry Taylor (earlier)

Leadership race narrows after Johnson says he won’t stand – as it happened

Boris Johnson ​​Rishi Sunak Penny Mordaunt
Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, and Boris Johnson.
Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, and Boris Johnson. Photograph: Reuters, Rex/Shutterstock and Getty

This blog is closing now but you can continue to read our UK political coverage here. Our latest wrap on the twists and turns of a very busy Sunday is here. Thank you for reading.

Summary

  • Former prime minister Boris Johnson has ended his bid to return to power within months of being ousted, claiming that although he had the numbers, he would not run to replace outgoing leader Liz Truss, who resigned as Conservative party leader on Thursday after just 45 days in office. Johnson claimed to have won the support of 102 colleagues – two clear of the threshold needed – but only about 60 had publicly stated their support for him.

  • Johnson said he reached the decision reluctantly after recognising he would not lead “a united party in parliament”. He said, “In the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do,” and, “You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.” Read his full statement here.

  • Former chancellor Rishi Sunak appears set to become party leader and prime minister. He ended Sunday with more than 165 supporters ahead of Monday’s nomination deadline. Sunak came second in the race against Truss over the summer.

  • The chances of a general election have risen, according to some estimations. Johnson supporter Nadine Dorries has said an election was now “impossible to avoid”. Labour, which has opened up huge poll leads, is demanding an election. Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, said: “The Tories are about to hand the keys of the country to Rishi Sunak without him saying a single word about how he would govern. No one voted for this. Perhaps it’s not surprising he’s avoiding scrutiny: after all, he was so bad that just a few weeks ago, he was trounced by Liz Truss.”

  • Contender Penny Mordaunt, who missed out on the last contest’s run-off by just eight votes, will now come under pressure to concede rather than force the contest to a vote of members. However a source on the Mordaunt campaign insisted her campaign was continuing and that she wanted to get on the ballot so party members could decide the result.

  • Johnson and Sunak held talks late into Saturday night, according to reports. The ex-leader also reportedly spoke on Sunday to Mordaunt, who was said to have rebuffed his calls to back him, noting her supporters were likely to split more for Sunak.

  • Mordaunt could yet win over any former Johnson supporters who want to stop Sunak. Each needs to submit nominations by 2pm on Monday. If both get more than 100 nominations, 150,000 Tory members will be asked to decide the result.

  • Sunak launched his official campaign with a declaration that “fixing the economy” was his priority, but he gave no media interviews or formal manifesto. If Sunak succeeds on Monday he will become Britain’s first non-white PM, and as a Hindu, his victory will be sealed on Diwali.

  • Mordaunt spoke to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, telling her she would be a “halfway house” between Sunak and Johnson but refused to be drawn on any economic policies or decisions on tax and spending.

  • A survey by Conservative pollster James Johnson still found all three Tory candidates had negative favourability. The survey found that Johnson was on -24, Mordaunt -15 and Sunak -2.

It has been a whirlwind four days, so here’s an updated brief timeline charting the chaotic journey since Liz Truss resigned, the lettuce won, Jacob Rees-Mogg called Johnson “the greatest electoral asset the Conservative party has had in modern times” and Sunak now appearing set to become leader.

Torbay MP Kevin Foster fared better than Zahawi, with his piece backing Sunak still live and doing business on the Torbay Weekly.

He thanks Johnson for his past endeavours but calls for “fresh leadership to deliver the promise of a better Britain our 2019 manifesto set out, rather than a return to the arguments of the first half of this year which brought Boris’ administration down”.

Johnson supporter Nadine Dorries repeats her theory that the former PM has a mandate from the people and now believes a general election looms. Presumably, Dorries doesn’t think that is good news for the Tories.

“A day is a long time in politics”

Nadhim Zahawi's tweets on the Conservative leadership race 23 october 2022
Photograph: Twitter

The whiplash u-turn in the loyalties of Nadhim Zahawi outpaced the Daily Telegraph tonight. Zahawi publicly backed Johnson as “the one to lead us to victory & prosperity” and wrote in the paper that we should all “get ready for Boris 2.0”, only for the former chancellor to then pledge his “full support and loyalty” to Rishi Sunak. Zahawi’s short-lived piece in the Telegraph has since been taken down.

Walker points out in his analysis that the best outcome Johnson could have hoped for would be to lead a party where about two-third of its MPs think he is unfit for office.

“Far more humiliating would be to not make the 100-nomination threshold. Those who know Johnson portray him as a politician who, even by the standards of the trade, lives on adulation and approval. If he cannot feel wanted he would rather not be involved.”

Updated

I’m signing off now, but my colleague in Australia Graham Russell will be continuing our live coverage of all the fallout from Johnson’s decision to count himself out of the leadership race.

Scottish MP Ian Blackford said Rishi Sunak will be “just as bad” for the people of Scotland after Boris Johnson pulled out of the race.

SNP Westminster leader Blackford’s comments come as the former chancellor has been dubbed the favourite to top the ballot of MPs.

“No Tory Prime Minister can or will deliver for Scotland, and with his record of callous austerity from his time as chancellor we know Rishi Sunak will be just as bad as Johnson was for the people of Scotland.

“Having wrecked the economy, in a period of rule that’s seen mortgage rates rise, pensions fall, and soaring inflation driving up household bills, the last thing the country needs is another unelected Tory in Downing Street.

“If Tory MPs have any respect for democracy they’ll put the pressure on the new prime minister to immediately call a general election.

“This entire saga has shown exactly why Scotland needs independence – so we can once and for all escape the chaos and calamity of undemocratic Tory rule.”

“That the Tories can foist upon us a third prime minister in just three years without an election, in the midst of a cost of living and economic crisis of their making, speaks to how unfair and undemocratic this Westminster system is.”

Earlier, Blackford wrote to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urging him to push for a vote of no confidence in the Tories, vowing he will work with other opposition parties to try to make this happen in a bid to force an early general election.

As the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons, Starmer is the only MP who can submit a formal vote of no confidence motion.

Some swift analysis from our political correspondent, Peter Walker. He points out that, despite Boris Johnson’s protestations, “he only withdraws from a political race if he thinks he cannot win it”.

“The former prime minister’s statement confirming his decision to not stand was a classic of this Johnson genre: equal parts bullish insistence about his own ability to triumph, and a pretend modesty that he is choosing another path for the sake of unity.”

Updated

Angela Rayner repeats Labour's calls for an immediate general election

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, has repeated Labour’s call for an immediate general election after Boris Johnson withdrew from the race for Number 10.

She said:

The Tories are about to hand Rishi Sunak the keys to the country without him saying a single word about how he would govern. No one voted for this.

Perhaps it’s not surprising he’s avoiding scrutiny: after all, he was so bad that just a few weeks ago he was trounced by Liz Truss.

All anyone knows about him is that he broke the law, he was rejected by his own party because he created a vicious cycle of low growth, he did nothing to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, that his family avoided paying tax in this country; and that he betrayed Boris Johnson to get his job.

It’s why we need an election now – people deserve a vote on the future of the country.”

Updated

MP Sir James Duddridge has just announced he will be backing Sunak.

As a reminder, the trade minister and major Johnson cheerleader said earlier in the contest he got a WhatsApp message from the Dominican Republic to say the ex-PM wanted to enter the leadership race and would be landing back in the UK on Saturday. The message apparently read: “I’m flying back, Dudders. We are going to do this. I’m up for it.”

Updated

The Daily Record captures the feelings of many:

Updated

We’re catching our first glimpses of tomorrow’s front pages, with most predicting a Sunak victory.

Updated

Shortly after Johnson ruled himself out of the leadership race, Penny Mordaunt retweeted a link to her article in the Telegraph in which she outlined how she would govern as the next prime minister.

“Only a unified, disciplined and honest government will earn the trust of voters at the next general election and I will deliver this,” she wrote.

Updated

Sunak praises Johnson's achievements as PM

Rishi Sunak has posted on Twitter, expressing his hopes that Johnson “continues to contribute to life at home and abroad”.

Updated

Sir James Duddridge, Conservative MP for Rochford and Southend East, summed up his feelings on Sunday night after an eventful day.

The trade minister and major Johnson cheerleader said earlier in the contest he got a WhatsApp message from the Dominican Republic to say the ex-PM wanted to enter the leadership race and would be landing back in the UK on Saturday. The message apparently read: “I’m flying back, Dudders. We are going to do this. I’m up for it.”

Updated

There is a lot of scepticism swirling on Twitter around Johnson’s claims to have had 102 backers. Former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Lord Ashcroft is among those voicing doubts:

The MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, David Morris, has joined those backing Sunak’s leadership bid.

Updated

Key event

The Liberal Democrats have said the Conservative leadership contest has become “a total farce”.

The Lib Dems’ deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, said: “This is a humiliating climbdown for Boris Johnson and all the Conservative MPs who wanted to put him back in No 10.”

She said the public will “rightly be furious that they’re set to endure a third Conservative PM in just as many months”.

“While people are struggling with their spiralling bills, the Conservatives look set to appoint a former chancellor who lost the country billions,” she says.

She reiterated calls for a general election, saying the country doesn’t need “another Conservative coronation”.

Updated

Rishi Sunak is now the clear frontrunner to be PM, with 150 MPs declaring for former chancellor, but Penny Mordaunt will be trying over the next few hours to win over Johnson’s backers and show she has a significant number of Tory MPs behind her.

Nadhim Zahawi has already said he will back Sunak, despite announcing earlier on Sunday that he would back Johnson’s leadership bid.

Moments before Johnson made his announcement, an article was published in the Telegraph written by Zahawi titled: “Get ready for Boris 2.0, the man who will make the Tories and Britain great again.”

However, the article is no longer available and link the to the web address reads: “404 – Sorry, page not found.”

This morning, Zahawi said Johnson had “got the big calls right, whether it was ordering more vaccines ahead of more waves of Covid, arming Ukraine early against the advice of some, or stepping down for the sake of unity.”

He said: “Britain needs him back. We need to unite to deliver on our manifesto.”

Updated

Boris Johnson confirms he won't stand

Boris Johnson has said that due to the failure to reach a deal with Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, “I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds.”

The former prime minister said in a statement on Sunday night:

I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024 – and tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and a seconder, and I could put my nomination in tomorrow.

“There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative party members – and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday.

“But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.”

He added: “And though I have reached out to both Rishi and Penny - because I hoped that we could come together in the national interest - we have sadly not been able to work out a way of doing this”.

More here from deputy political editor Rowena Mason.

Updated

And another … Jerome Mayhew, the MP for Broadland in Norfolk:

Updated

Kevin Foster, the MP for Torbay, has become the latest Conservative MP to back Rishi Sunak.

He told his local paper, the Torbay Weekly:

In the face of the global economic headwinds we now face, of the three likely candidates, Rishi appears best placed to ensure families and businesses across our bay and nation are protected, whilst ensuring financial markets have confidence in our plans to do so. I also know he will ensure our support for Ukraine remains resolute.

He pays tribute to Boris Johnson’s stance over Ukraine, Brexit, coronavirus and support for measures in his Torbay constituency. But he adds:

Yet I believe we now need a fresh leadership to deliver the promise of a better Britain our 2019 manifesto set out, rather than a return to the arguments of the first half of this year, which brought Boris’ administration down in July.

Updated

Rishi Sunak has surged ahead in the race to be Conservative leader while Boris Johnson is mounting a last-ditch scramble to shore up support among MPs, amid warnings his return as prime minister would lead to a political crisis within a week.

As more senior party figures cautioned that a Johnson comeback would lead to chaos and an early election, Sunak won the support of 150 MPs – just shy of the number needed to keep all but one other rival candidate getting on the slate.

Sunak launched his official campaign with a declaration that “fixing the economy” was his priority, but he gave no media interviews or formal manifesto showing his proposed programme for government.

Read the full story here:

Updated

Our cartoonist Nicola Jennings’ view on the contest – whoever wins, the Tory party is heading for extinction.

Updated

There was scepticism from rival camps over the claim from Boris Johnson’s supporters that they had reached the threshold of 100 MPs needed to make it on to the ballot paper, PA reports.

Earlier a leaked WhatsApp message purporting to be from Johnson supporter Chris Heaton-Harris said: “I can confirm we have completed all the paperwork (verified all nominations, with proposer and seconder) to be on the ballot tomorrow.”

Backbencher Richard Holden, a supporter of Sunak, tweeted: “Very odd to brief this out again … It’s what they briefed yesterday.

“It’s almost as if they still need people and are desperate to show momentum, which they can’t because no one will publicly come out.”

Updated

Interesting to see that dozens of MPs now want Johnson back in power despite supporting his decision to step down as Tory leader in the summer.

A reminder that candidates will need 100 nominations from their fellow Tory MPs by 2pm tomorrow if they are to progress to a final poll of the Tory membership.

Updated

Defence minister James Heappey backs Sunak

James Heappey, MP for Wells and Minister of State for the Armed Forces & Veterans, has posted on Twitter, announcing his support for Rishi Sunak. This brings Sunak total to 142.

He says:

I’ve been agonising all weekend knowing that our choice as next PM must bring together our divided party & restore stability to our Government. All wings of our party will need to work together after contest to achieve that but I’m supporting @RishiSunak to lead us in doing so.

Boris & Liz have led world in responding to the war in Ukraine. We must continue to lead. But that international leadership is only possible if our domestic politics & economy are stable. Rishi can deliver that stability at home, so we can continue to lead support for Ukraine.

Updated

Reports emerge of Johnson campaign supposedly celebrating reaching 100 MP nominations

Bloomberg reporter Alex Wickham and the Sun’s political editor Harry Cole have both tweeted a screenshot which they say is of a post showing MP Chris Heaton-Harris in the Johnson campaign WhatsApp group claiming they’ve “now verified 100 MP nominations” and “completed paperwork to get on the ballot”.

It’s important to note that so far we have only seen 57 verified nominations, only a handful of which have emerged in the last 24 hours.

Updated

MP for Finchley and Golders Green Mike Freer has been added to the list of Sunak’s backers, after confirming his support for the former chancellor in a tweet earlier on Sunday.

Sunak’s public backers have put him safely beyond the threshold of 100 nominations from MPs required to be on the ballot for the Tory leadership race. So far he has 141.

Here is the full list of publicly declared MPs.

Updated

The Observer’s political editor, Toby Helm, has tweeted his prediction of what comes next.

Updated

The former Bank of England governor Mervyn King has issued a warning that Britons face years of financial hardship that could be “more difficult” than during the age of austerity under the former Conservative chancellor George Osborne. He said households would face both higher taxes and higher mortgage rates.

Updated

Starmer under pressure from left for more radical Labour economic programme

Keir Starmer is facing growing pressure from the left of the Labour party to seek a more radically redistributive economic programme – as he warned that the current economic conditions will minimise the scope for action if his party wins the next general election.

Corbyn-era shadow cabinet member Rebecca Long-Bailey has echoed the frustration of many on the left at what they view as an excessively cautious approach despite Labour’s huge poll leads suggesting they are in a position to win a large parliamentary majority.

Writing in the Independent, she said Labour must be ready to take advantage of a “watershed” moment in British politics by offering a “transformative socialist programme for government”.

Updated

Our deputy political editor, Rowena Mason, has written a helpful explainer on the issues that will be faced by the next PM in the months ahead.

Updated

For those just catching up, Rishi Sunak’s support is currently at 140 MPs – two and a half times the number of publicly declared supporters for Johnson, who has 56 backers. Penny Mordaunt, the third candidate, has about 25 supporters.

Updated

In a damning verdict on the prospect of Johnson returning as prime minister, Suella Braverman has said the party “cannot indulge in parochial or nativist fantasies”.

She warned fellow Tory MPs not to be “naive” when deciding who to nominate in the contest. Braverman’s decision is significant as Johnson’s team had made a “big pitch” to her on Saturday in the hope that winning over the former home secretary would persuade fellow rightwing MPs to back him.

Braverman is a former head of the European Research Group of Brexiteer MPs. It is a further sign that the ERG is split down the middle between Sunak and Johnson.

Updated

Culture secretary comes out for Sunak

Another cabinet minister has come out in support of Rishi Sunak, as culture secretary Michelle Donelan has said she supports his “unity, stability, delivery and relentless focus”.

Donelan, who was education secretary for two days under Boris Johnson in July, said it was important for the party to “come together and unite”.

Her backing means that according to the Guardian’s count, Sunak now has 140 MPs who have said publicly that they will vote for him.

Updated

Summary

Here’s a round-up of today’s key developments in the final day before Conservative party MPs vote in the first ballot as part of the contest to elect their next leader.

  • Rishi Sunak has announced his candidacy to be the next Tory leader. In a statement, posted on Twitter, he promised to “fix our economy, unite our country and deliver for our country”.

  • A number of key declarations of support have been made. Suella Braverman, Grant Shapps and Chloe Smith have all said they will support Sunak in the vote on Monday.

  • Former vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, who was briefly Johnson’s chancellor, said he will vote for him, as will foreign secretary James Cleverly.

  • Johnson is still yet to announce his candidacy. Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris told Sky News that the former PM had the 100 MPs needed to get through the ballot on Monday.

  • Talks were held between Sunak and Johnson that ended late on Saturday night without a deal.

  • Similar discussions took place between Mordaunt and Johnson on Sunday afternoon, with the former prime minister reportedly asking Mordaunt to drop out of the contest – a request she refused.

  • Mordaunt appeared on BBC One in an interview with Laura Kuenssberg, and declined to make any agreements on policy.

  • New polling from Opinium that has been published in the last few minutes shows that the public prefer Rishi Sunak over Boris Johnson to be the next prime minister.

  • Former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith told the BBC that the Tories were “staring over the brink of a precipice” with its current problems.

  • Former European Research Group chair Steve Baker said Johnson’s return as prime minister would be “a guaranteed disaster” because of an upcoming vote on whether he lied to the House of Commons over Partygate.

Updated

Mordaunt refuses Johnson request to drop out of contest

As reported at 3:38pm, PA Media is reporting a line briefed out that Boris Johnson asked Penny Mordaunt to drop out of the leadership race and to back him.

“Sources close to the Leader of the House of Commons” told the news agency that Mordaunt refused, warning that most of her support would switch to Rishi Sunak if she did.

Updated

Two interesting reports for different reasons here, with a focus on Boris Johnson’s – as yet still to be announced – leadership candidacy.

The Times’s home affairs editor Matt Dathan is reporting that Johnson and leadership contender Penny Mordaunt spoke this afternoon. Johnson is thought to have asked her to support him, but she said no and in turn that most of her backers would rather switch to Rishi Sunak.

Sunak and Johnson spoke last night, with it appearing that no deal was struck. Sunak announced his own candidacy this morning. But it suggests that despite assurances that the Johnson camp have the 100 MPs needed to get onto the ballot, they may be short.

Mordaunt is further behind Johnson – she has 24 MPs compared with Johnson’s 5,7 according to the Guardian’s count. There are a good chunk of MPs who are yet to declare their support, but both are well short of 100. Both trail Sunak, who is on 139, after Nusrat Ghani’s declaration.

Arj Singh and Chloe Chaplain of the i have been told that Johnson will take the leadership contest to the members’ vote, even if Sunak is well ahead in the MP’s ballot.

“Members decide, not MPs,” one of Johnson’s supporters told the i.

Updated

Vice-chair of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers Nusrat Ghani has said she is backing Rishi Sunak in the leadership race, saying she had considered supported Penny Mordaunt.

Ghani has held ministerial positions for Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Theresa May.

The wording of her tweet implicitly suggests that she does not think Johnson is a credible candidate.

Updated

If you’re just catching up with who has backed who in the leadership contest, you can find the live list of MPs who have publicly declared who they will be supporting below.

Rishi Sunak is ahead with nearly 140 MPs. The vote will take place at 2pm on Monday.

My colleague Mark Brown has also laid out which of the “big beasts” are backing who, from Dominic Raab and Suella Braverman backing Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel and James Cleverly for Boris Johnson and Andrea Leadsom and Damien Green supporting Penny Mordaunt.

Updated

New polling from Opinium that has been published in the last few minutes shows that the public prefer Rishi Sunak over Boris Johnson to be the next prime minister.

The numbers have further shifted in favour of Sunak compared to the last time the company surveyed people.

The former chancellor has a narrow lead over people who have said they wouldn’t vote Conservative but did so in 2019.

David Lidington, who was effectively deputy prime minister under Theresa May, has written an opinion piece for the Guardian on the current image problem of the Conservative party.

Lidington, who stepped down from parliament in 2019, said the Tories looked “incompetent, tin-eared and obsessed with our party’s prospects” during the cost of living crisis.

He writes:

This week will be the 13th time since I joined the Conservative party back in 1975 that a new leader has been elected or an incumbent faced a leadership challenge. Six of those occasions have been in the past six years alone.

We all know that this cannot go on. Our country is facing economic and strategic threats as great as any I have seen in my lifetime. Our party is in peril of being branded for a generation as divided, self-indulgent and indifferent to the nation’s needs.

Please, when you make your choice, put the country first. Every single one of us went into politics because we wanted to make the United Kingdom more prosperous and secure, to make life better for our fellow citizens. Yet in the past few weeks we have appeared incompetent, tin-eared and obsessed with our party’s prospects at the very time millions of households are worried sick about how to meet their bills for food, fuel and housing. Even those lucky enough to have a decent income and paid-off mortgage worry about those who do not. After all, they include our own children and grandchildren.

The full piece can be read here:

'Boris has learned lessons' says Cleverly as he announces support

A big declaration of support for Boris Johnson from foreign secretary James Cleverly, as he said he will vote for him if he stands in Monday’s vote.

Cleverly, who was education secretary for a month under Johnson, and a minister previous to that, said that he thinks Johnson has “learned his lessons from his time” in Downing Street.

“[He] will ensure the focus is on the needs of the country from day 1,” he said.

Suella Braverman declares Sunak backing

Former home secretary Suella Braverman, who resigned on Wednesday, has said that she is supporting Rishi Sunak’s bid to become prime minister.

Braverman, who served as attorney general under Boris Johnson, is a big figure on the right of the party and it was thought that she may have launched a leadership bid herself. Her support for Sunak will count as a big blow to Johnson’s campaign.

Her resignation letter to Liz Truss on Wednesday criticised breaking manifesto pledges. She is an MP who has engaged most readily with “culture war issues” and said it would be her “dream” to see refugees deported to Rwanda.

Writing in the Telegraph (paywall), she said Johnson is “one of our most significant prime ministers in history”.

But she pivots to say:

Things need to change. We, as a party, need to change. We need to provide leadership, stability and confidence to the British people. We cannot indulge in parochial or nativist fantasies. Yes, I want a leader of our Party and our country to inspire hope for a better future and raise our spirits. And I need a leader who will put our house in order and apply a steady, careful hand on the tiller. That person, for me, is Rishi Sunak.

She ends by saying that Britain is in “dire straits” and Sunak is the candidate that “fits the bill.”

I have backed Boris from the start. From running alongside him in London in 2012, to supporting him to be our leader in 2019 and willing him to succeed throughout the travails of this year. His resignation in July was a loss for our country.

But we are in dire straits now. We need unity, stability and efficiency. Rishi is the only candidate that fits the bill and I am proud to support him.

Updated

This is interesting from political analyst Patrick Flynn, again, tapping into the shift in support from Boris Johnson to Rishi Sunak.

Flynn says that Sunak has attracted more Johnson supporters from 2019 than Johnson has retained.

He predicts that Sunak is on course to get more than 200 nominations, which would be well over half the parliamentary party.

Another for Sunak from Neil O’Brien who is a junior minister and served at a similar level for Boris Johnson.

The Harborough MP, who resigned from Johnson’s government in the summer in a joint letter with Kemi Badenoch said he was “sad” Badenoch decided not to stand, adding that he had “respect for Johnson [but] … now is not the time”.

Will Quince becomes the latest MP to declare for Rishi Sunak. Back in July he resigned from Boris Johnson’s government, where he was children’s minister, having been sent out on a media round to defend the government’s position on Chris Pincher – a position which was reversed within hours.

Updated

The Times’ political editor Simon Swinford reports that Boris Johnson has reportedly snubbed the chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s approaches to talk as he considers who to support.

Two more in the bag for Rishi Sunak, as backbencher Peter Gibson and Stuart Andrew have tweeted their intention to vote for him on Monday.

Gibson, part of the 2019 “red wall” group of MPs that were elected, said he was “grateful to [Johnson] for all he has done”, and Andrew said Sunak would offer “a detailed focus on the economy”.

Their announcements mean 214 of the party’s 357 MPs have now declared who they are supporting.

More support for Rishi Sunak, whose campaign seems to be gathering momentum on Sunday, this time from one of the party’s London MPs whose seat will be in grave danger at the next general election.

Theresa Villiers, who represents Chipping Barnet in north London, has said she will vote for Sunak. She supported him in the last leadership election, but with current polling figures would be out of a job at the next general election. She has a majority of 1,212.

In a statement on her website Villiers said: “We can’t afford to go back. We have to look to the future. Rishi is our best chance of rebuilding support for the Conservatives and our best chance of winning the next election.”

DWP secretary says she'll back Sunak

Another cabinet minister coming out this morning in support of Rishi Sunak, as work and pensions secretary Chloe Smith said that she will vote for him.

Smith said she had spoken to Sunak and “listened to views of local members”, adding: “I intend to back Rishi to be prime minister, acting in the national interest and achieving the stability and opportunity that our nation needs.”

She voted for Truss in this summer’s leadership election, and her majority in Norwich North is just under 5,000.

She follows fellow cabinet member Grant Shapps in announcing her backing for the former chancellor on Sunday.

More of the comments made by Lord Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England to Laura Kuenssberg earlier on BBC One. The economy is unsurprisingly a focal point of the Conservative party leadership contest.

He said that significantly higher taxes on the average person would be needed to finance higher public spending in the UK.

Lord King said there “isn’t enough money there amongst the rich to get it back” when it comes to meeting the “strong case” for extra spending in certain areas to help recover from the lockdown.

Asked if cuts will feel similar to the recent era of austerity instigated by former Conservative chancellor George Osborne, Lord King said:

In some ways it could be more difficult.

I think everyone can see there is a strong case for higher public spending in certain areas as we recover from the lockdown period and in many ways people are very good at identifying areas where public spending should be higher in the longer term.

The challenge is if we want European levels of welfare payments and public spending, you cannot finance that with American levels of tax rates.

So we may need to confront the need to have significantly higher taxes on the average person.

Lord King noted public expenditure is likely to increase.

Therefore taxes will have to rise to fill the gap which is there at present.

That doesn’t make a very happy picture for the next few years but what we need is a government that will tell us honestly there is a reduction in our national standard of living because we’ve decided to help Ukraine and confront Russia, and that means all of us are going to have to share the burden - we can’t just put all of it on our children and grandchildren.

He said mortgage rates are “clearly going to go up” but noted this was also happening elsewhere in the world.

Sunak backers now reach 130 MPs - Guardian count

Another backbencher, Mark Pawsey, has come out in support of Rishi Sunak, taking him to 130 MPs who have publicly declared they will vote for him on Monday.

Pawsey tweeted saying he will vote for Sunak, after he confirmed his candidacy earlier on Sunday morning.

According to the Guardian’s count, it means that Sunak has the support of 130 MPs who have publicly announced their support for him.

Home secretary announces Sunak support

Grant Shapps, who was made home secretary on Wednesday last week after Suella Braverman’s resignation, has said he will vote for Rishi Sunak.

Shapps, who was transport secretary under Boris Johnson and had three days as a leadership contender in the summer, said Sunak would provide “stability and proven economic competence”.

He is the 129th MP according to the Guardian’s tally to publicly say he will be supporting Sunak.

In a further insight into the potential changing dynamics in the coalition of people who supported Boris Johnson as prime minister compared with during this leadership contest, Nimco Ali – a campaigner against female genital mutilation and close friend of Carrie Johnson, has retweeted Rishi Sunak’s candidacy announcement.

Ali, who is godparent to the Johnson’s son Wilfred, also defended Johnson during his time as PM.

Updated

Interesting insight from the Sun’s political editor, Harry Cole, on why the number of MPs publicly backing Boris Johnson lag so far behind Rishi Sunak, despite the former prime minister’s camp suggesting it has more than the 100 votes needed.

Updated

We’ve had two more MPs come out saying they will vote for Rishi Sunak in tomorrow afternoon’s ballot.

Geoffrey Cox, who served as attorney general under both Theresa May and Boris Johnson, said he would support Sunak.

He said Sunak was “best suited to manage the peculiar demands of these times”.

Jesse Norman, a minister under both Truss and Johnson, said he would also be voting for Sunak. Norman and Sunak worked together at the Treasury.

Updated

Rishi Sunak announces candidacy

The former chancellor Rishi Sunak, who has the most MPs publicly supporting him in the leadership contest, has announced he will stand.

Sunak, who lost in the leadership election to Liz Truss earlier this summer, said he wants to “fix our economy, unite our party and deliver for our country”. The Guardian’s tally has him on 126 MPs.

He joins Penny Mordaunt as the second candidate to officially enter the race. Boris Johnson, who met with Sunak last night, is yet to announce he will stand.

In his statement, posted on Twitter, Sunak said: “The choice our party makes now will decide whether the next generation of British people will have more opportunities than the last.

“That’s why I am standing to be your next prime minister and leader of the Conservative party. I want to fix our economy, unite our country and deliver for our country.

“I served as your chancellor, helping to steer our economy through the toughest of times.

“The challenges we face now are even greater. But the opportunities – if we make the right choice – are phenomenal.”

The launch is notable for being lower-tech than when he announced his candidacy in the summer with a slick video. It raised eyebrows from some that he had been preparing it for some time before Johnson announced he was standing down.

Updated

Some new polling that has been published this morning, which has found that Rishi Sunak is the Conservative leadership candidate that is “most likely to restore integrity and honest leadership in British politics”.

The survey from JL Partners, in association with Tory thinktank Onward, saw Sunak lead Johnson by nearly 30% over who would be best to “stabilise the economy”.

However, in the polling carried out on Friday, Johnson led by 2% as the candidate most likely to win the next election for the Conservatives. Both he and Sunak markedly reduce Labour’s polling lead.

IDS: 'Conservative party staring over the brink of a precipice'

Wrapping up with the panel after the Dominic Raab interview finishes, Laura Kuenssberg asks Iain Duncan Smith whether he thinks the vote should go to the members – a hot topic in Conservative party circles. Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote an opinion piece for the Telegraph on Friday saying it was important that it did so.

He pauses, then says: “I want my party to settle down. I want my party to recognise that it is staring over the brink of a precipice, they have to make a decision whether they want to step back.

“I believe in the democracy process. If there are two candidates then it must go to the electorate. But it may be possible that there aren’t.”

There then appear to be problems with the sound output on BBC One, so the end of Duncan-Smith’s comments, Kuenssberg’s wrapping up and a montage showing shots of David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson leaving Downing Street can’t be heard.

If any remarks from the closing stages emerge later on, I’ll bring them to you.

Updated

Kuenssberg asks whether Raab understands people’s unhappiness with the government, and why Rishi Sunak would be the best man to restore credibility.

“I think Boris Johnson achieved a great many positive things. We have had the various different challenges which are unprecedented, whether it’s Covid, Brexit, the war in Ukraine. These are unprecedented times.

“I think on the fundamental calls on the economy Rishi been right. He showed on the furlough scheme why he has the experience to deliver.

“I also see, as a member of the Conservative family, there is a political mess and we all have a duty to fix it.”

Updated

Raab says Rishi Sunak is best placed to win back voters, and also points to him having the most MPs supporting him.

Kuenssberg asks whether Sunak’s record as chancellor needs scrutiny having borrowed “enormous” amounts of money.

Raab said: “We all take our responsibility. Rishi Sunak was the chancellor who saw us through with the prime minister, that huge challenge, the millions of jobs saved through the furlough scheme. The businesses kept alive, viable so we didn’t have the appalling economic and social scaring that would have been the case.

“He is also the politician who has set out the right plan to get financial stability, market confidence, inflation down, interest rates down. We talked about this all over the summer, and get this country moving forward.”

He refuses to say whether Sunak would keep Jeremy Hunt as chancellor, but says he will instead appoint “a government of all the talents”.

Updated

From Rees-Mogg to Dominic Raab, who is supporting Rishi Sunak. Raab was Boris Johnson’s deputy prime minister, and briefly was in charge of the government when the prime minister was in intensive care with Covid-19 in 2020.

Kuenssberg asks whether he knows if a deal was done last night between Sunak and Johnson in the talks that took place.

“I don’t think there ‘s any issues around deals, and I don’t think that’s the right way to proceed.

“What would that deal involve? Rishi Sunak is very clear. On that BBC tally, he has has double the number of MPs supporting him compared to Boris. We have a whole range as well as the number.

“Big beasts like Sajid Javid coming out for him, Brexiteers like Steve Baker, Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat, I think that tells you about the range of his support. What they did have was a good conversation about unity.

“I think you can see from the momentum, the growing number and range of support for Rishi, I think he is best placed. Not just the numbers, I think he has the breadth of support.

“I would love to see Boris Johnson come back to frontline politics. I am speaking personally. We have this major issue which led to him having to resign, which was Partygate, in a matter of days he is going to see televised witness testimony, including his own, which will take him back to that spiral.”

Updated

Rees-Mogg says that Kuenssberg is rewriting history, and dismissing Johnson’s achievement when she talks about mass resignations, parties in Downing Street and Boris Johnson’s fall.

“His mandate was from the country,” Rees-Mogg says. “You are looking through the wrong end of the telescope. You’ve just been talking to Sir Keir Starmer who has called for a general election.

“Boris Johnson is the man who won the mandate, so a call for a general election is pretty hollow if the man who won the mandate is prime minister.”

Jacob-Rees Mogg is being interviewed on BBC One. He says that Boris Johnson will stand for the leadership, and the two have spoken.

Rees-Mogg, a minister under Johnson, says he has been told that the 100 names are there and the former prime minister has enough nominations to get through the ballot tomorrow.

Asked if the public would accept him as PM again, Rees-Mogg said: “Boris delivered Brexit, he supported Ukraine and standing up to Russia, and he got us through a pandemic. He won a majority of 80, he won Hartlepool in a byelection.

“He has been the greatest electoral asset the Conservative party has had in modern times. If you look at a poll in the Mail on Sunday today, he appeals the most to people who voted Conservative in 2019, an extraordinary coalition.”

Starmer refuses to say if NHS funding would rise in line with inflation under Labour

Final question from Kuenssberg, as she asks whether Labour would increase NHS funding in line with inflation.

Sir Keir again does not answer in specifics, despite the presenter trying to get a “yes/no” answer.

“We will set out what we will do with the NHS, but of course the NHS needs more money.

“Laura, it needs more than money. My wife works in the NHS, my mum worked in the NHS, my sister works in the NHS, I ran a public service.

“I know that of course they need more money, but I also know that it needs reform. The NHS needs to move to a preventative model, but it’s part of the answer.”

That’s it for the Labour leader’s interview.

Kuenssberg says Starmer said this week that the economic climate means the Labour party won’t be able to do things it had previously would have planned to.

“I know that an incoming Labour government will inherit an economic mess form this government. Therefore there are things that we would like to do, good Labour things, we will not be able to do them as quickly as we would want,” the Labour leader said.

The broadcaster pushes him for details, but Starmer does not give them. He says: “We don’t know the extent of the damage and I am not going to write the manifesto on your programme. We have set fiscal rules, we have said we will pay for day-to-day spend, we will only borrow to invest, and we will get debt down as a percentage of our GDP.”

Updated

Kuenssberg asks what Labour’s economic policy would be, after Lord Mervyn King, the former head of the Bank of England, said spending and taxes would go up for everyone.

Sir Keir Starmer said: “The damage has been done to our economy and an incoming government will have to pick up a real mess of our economy of the Tories’ making.

“We don’t know the full extend of the damage, because we haven’t had an OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] report.”

She pushes him again on whether Labour would raise taxes.

“What I have said is I know there are going to be tough choices, I said that in Liverpool three weeks ago, that mean we can’t do some of the things we would like to do as an incoming Labour government.

“We will be the party of sound money. We know the tough choices that will have to be made. A windfall tax on oil and gas companies would bring in tens of billions of pounds, non-dom tax status change, private equity fund loopholes.”

Updated

Keir Starmer says Conservative party are a 'ridiculous, chaotic circus'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is now being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg. She asks which candidate he would like to face.

He calls the leadership contest and situation in the Conservative party a “ridiculous, chaotic circus”.

“My focus is on the millions of people who are struggling to pay their bills, now have additional anxieties about their mortgage, I know what it feels like, it happened to me and my family when I was growing up. They are fed up to the back teeth about this.

“They could have a stable Labour government, who would restore faith in the institutions that give us market stability.”

He calls for a general election, repeating a line he used last week before and after Liz Truss stood down.

“They could put their party first or their country first. The country needs change, it needs stability, and to get rid of this chaos,” Sir Keir says.

Updated

Nadhim Zahawi backs Boris Johnson

A big-name supporter coming out for Boris Johnson, Nadhim Zahawi, who briefly stood in the leadership contest this summer after a similarly short spell as Johnson’s chancellor, has said he would support his former boss.

He said: “I’m backing Boris. He got the big calls right, whether it was ordering more vaccines ahead of more waves of Covid, arming early [Ukraine] against the advice of some, or stepping down for the sake of unity. But now, Britain needs him back. We need to unite to deliver on our manifesto.”

Updated

First reaction to the interview from Iain Duncan Smith, probably the panel member on the BBC One show whose views could be the most interesting today.

The former leader said: “What we saw there was the same problem that every one of these three candidates will face. It’s a Conservative party that can’t make its mind up whether it wants to see savings through public expenditure, or whether it wants to see higher taxes.

“The trouble is that the more you pile on through taxes, the less business investment you get and the shorter term that process is.

“I suspect any of the candidates will arrive at the same conclusion. We can’t get away from the fact we are going to see efficiency savings in public expenditure, there are other things to do as well, like the deregulation process to improve efficiency in the British economy.”

Mordaunt is asked whether the Conservatives have any legitimacy in not having a general election having changed leader twice since the country last went to the polls nearly three years ago.

“In the 2019 election we had a huge majority and mandate to deliver that manifesto,” Mordaunt says.

“The country now doesn’t need six weeks of chaos and Westminster bubble. What it needs is us to deliver. Open up access to healthcare services, all those bread and butter issues that people want to work better, that’s what we have to do. That’s our mandate. I also want us to remember that as a party that we come together and we start to work on that.”

And that’s it from her.

Mordaunt then flatly denies reports that she has been in touch with Boris Johnson’s camp trying to negotiate a job.

She doesn’t respond to Kuenssberg’s question about whether she would prefer Rishi Sunak or Johnson as prime minister, saying she is standing for a reason.

The presenter then asks whether she would be comfortable about Johnson returning to Downing Street.

“It’s not about him, it’s not about me. It’s not about us, it’s about what we do, and people be able to see a GP, it’s about people being able to get through winter without being worried about keeping the heating and the lights on.”

Kuenssberg tells Mordaunt that according to BBC data she still lags some way behind Johnson and Sunak, and asks whether she still thinks she can win.

Mordaunt replies: “I’m a savvy campaigner … I am very confident with the progress that we are making. I will say to you that i am in this to win it. It is important for our party, we have a contest, I am are very confident about our numbers.

“The reason I am doing this is because I think i am best placed to bring the party together. We have got to come together. We can’t deliver for people, people are fed up of the factional rows, the focus on ourselves, we have got to remember why we came into this place in the first place. It’s to serve our constituencies and communities.”

The same happens again when Mordaunt is asked about her approach to immigration.

“I believe in evidence based policy making, I also believe in cabinet responsibility. That is how I will take decisions. I won’t be imposing, I have my views, but I won’t be imposing policy I have made up in a room myself, I will be talking with my cabinet,” she said.

After saying benefits should rise with inflation during the Conservative party conference a few weeks ago, the pattern continues when Mordaunt is asked by Kuenssberg if she still believes it – and refuses to say either way.

“We have always protected people, but I am not being drawn into the detail.

“What we must do is remember that our mandate lies in the 2019 manifesto. If we remember what we all wanted to do at that last election, what our ambitions for the country were, to deliver those wishes that people set out in 2016, that will help unite us.”

On the triple lock, Mordaunt says she is “proud” that it was brought in.

“I am very proud of our record in government, I think if we Conservatives remember our record since 2010 when we took over when there was no money left, what we have done over pensioner income, how many people we have brought into work …”

She is then pressed by Kuenssberg, but says she will not be drawn.

“I want our party to remember this week what our party has in common. Our achievements, our manifesto that we stood on, that’s our mandate, the 2019 manifesto.”

Updated

Mordaunt refuses to say whether defence spending will rise by 3%, saying she knows not answering is to her “detriment” but she is “putting the country first”.

“We have got to have stability, and we can’t have people in this contest, I know it’s only a week, making spending commitments. We must stick to that process.”

Mordaunt says that the economic climate means that there needs to be a “doubling down” of supply-side reforms – but is unwilling to be pinned down on the details.

She is asked whether she would make cuts to the NHS. Mordaunt again, doesn’t immediately answer the question and refers to her leadership campaign in the summer. She said there should be “measured” tax cuts but said services should be “protected”.

“I think you have to recognise we have enormous backlogs. Not at any time in the last 12 years has Conservative government rolled back on health spending,” Mordaunt says.

However, she then says cuts could take place. “What we have to do is make efficiency savings, and we have to ensure that those services, which people need, are there.”

Updated

No deal between Sunak and Johnson - reports

An interesting snippet from the Times’ political editor Steven Swinford on Johnson and Sunak’s meeting last night.

Updated

Penny Mordaunt is now being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg. She is asked whether she did support her policies, as she did during the summer leadership election after she backed Liz Truss once her own campaign floundered.

She says: “I think she was right that we needed to focus on growth, but as you remember from the contest we had in the summer I was more cautious about how we did that.

“I felt we had to be focusing on supply side changes and I set out principles on how we should be taking decisions, I wanted to be tax competitive.

“I would not commit to numbers or a particular timetable, because I was very aware of the dangers of doing that.”

Mordaunt refuses to say whether she raised concerns in the cabinet, in her role as leader of the commons. She later adds that she has been briefed by Jeremy Hunt. “The debate now is for stability is whether you are for stability or low taxes, that is not the right construct. They are two sides of the same coin.”

Updated

While Heaton-Harris continues talking to Sophy Ridge, a note from the start of BBC One’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith says he hasn’t decided who he will vote for.

“The question is whether any leader will be supported as they should be. That’s the problem after 12 years in power is that they alone can save themselves and their seats because they are somehow different.

“The problem is we have to decide whether we have to make a go of this last two years until the election, or not, and therefore is we are going to pick somebody that we will get behind. We will have a big challenge, huge economic issues, war in Europe, the results of lockdown.”

Updated

Heaton-Harris says he doesn’t know for sure whether Johnson supports Jeremy Hunt’s economic plan, but adds that it is the only plan that exists at the moment.

On the privileges committee, he says that Johnson was happy for it to be set up. “He wants the privileges committee to do its work as he believes he will be exonerated. I don’t know what this vote is that people are talking about as we get back … there is a long way to go yet.”

Updated

Heaton-Harris says he doesn’t have any details about the talks between Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson last night.

“I was really pleased that they had talks, but I don’t know what transpired from them. I will be speaking to Boris shortly. It’s really important that the party comes together and unifies and shows we are serious about governing.

“I want those talks between Rishi and Boris to continue, and involve Penny [Mordaunt], because I think they are all big players in our future and if they came together it would be a dramatic turn for us all.”

Updated

Boris Johnson supporter Chris Heaton-Harris claims former PM has 100 backers

Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris is supporting Boris Johnson. He tells Ridge that the former prime minister is “still a vote-winner, he’s the candidate that Labour fears”.

Heaton-Harris said he is still hoping that Johnson runs, and that he has enough nominations to run. He said that as Johnson’s former chief whip, he’s “good at knowing what the numbers are”.

Ridge asked why the same number haven’t said so publicly.

Heaton-Harris says: “We have already booked the appointment with Bob Blackman, secretary of the 1922 tomorrow, so we have the numbers. There are some people in government positions, and some people who might be whips or on the 22 executive, but they don’t have to come forward. In the votes, it’s a secret ballot, I guess you could say that a secret vote is part of democracy.”

Updated

Green said that he doesn’t think Johnson should return as prime minister, again, like Baker, citing the parliamentary vote over the privileges committee and whether he lied to the House of Commons.

“We saw what happened last time … I don’t think it would work, not this time. There is this standards committee investigation going on. There is this possibility that if he became leader, in a couple of months’ time we would be here again.”

Updated

Now on is Damian Green, Theresa May’s effective deputy prime minister when she was in Downing Street, who is backing Penny Mordaunt.

He says that she will bring “stable unified government” that will “stabilise” the UK.

Green says he is confident Mordaunt will make the ballot and says she will not pull out of the race later today. She is on BBC One after 9am.

“I think she’ll win. But we have a process and if it’s all stitched up behind closed doors behind big figures at Westminster, then our party members will feel cheated. We do have this two-stage process and I do think it is a sensible innovation that we have an indicative vote so we know as MPs are ahead.

“What we do need is to respect the process. If it’s a stitch-up, I think the party membership will be pretty disgruntled about that and it would be a bad way for a prime minister to start on that journey.”

Updated

The current policy on the Northern Ireland protocol must be continued, Baker says.

“The only policy that can be successfully carried out on Northern Ireland is the one that we have. And everyone should understand that. Because if Rishi doesn’t or Penny didn’t carry through that policy, the Eurosceptics would implode the government. The Eurosceptics really care about this issue about the whole of the UK leaving the jurisdiction of EU law.

“My colleagues and friends … they are not going to tolerate any divergence or equivocation on this point.”

Updated

Ridge asks whether another leader can take over without an election.

“The public don’t like elections and the idea that we should go straight into an election now is for the birds. We need to give stability for the markets, sort out the public finances and move on,” the Wycombe MP said.

She then asks if Johnson should stand down from the contest. Baker says he thinks he should.

He said: “I think it would be for the best is if Boris did something big and statesmanlike. If he wants to come back as prime minister, he needs to do so after this privileges issue is settled. I think he would make an amazing chairman of the party, I think everyone knows he has huge character and charisma.

“Make him chairman of the party. He can lead the campaign, he can front this government, but what we can’t do is have him in as prime minister in circumstances where he is likely to implode.”

Updated

Baker acknowledges that Johnson is popular with voters and members, but the country can’t afford to have his premiership “implode” and another leadership election.

Baker says he would not “lay down” his integrity for Johnson, meaning he could rebel over a privileges vote. He tells Ridge he cannot rule it out.

He said: “People love Boris and there will be people leaping to social media to call me all sorts of names under the sun. That’s not important to me. What’s important is how this country works out and how it fares.”

Johnson a 'guaranteed disaster' says former ERG chairman

Ridge then asks Baker about Boris Johnson.

Baker replies: “There is a lot of love for Boris Johnson and I respect that. This isn’t the time for Boris’s style. I’m afraid the trouble is because of the privileges vote, Boris would be a guaranteed disaster.

“There is going to be a vote before the House of Commons on whether he deliberately misled the house. In that vote it is guaranteed there will be a large number of Conservatives who will refuse to lay down their integrity to save him. At that point his premiership will collapse.”

Baker says there is an argument to have that vote on the first day, but it would not work. Sixty-two MPs resigned from his government over the Chris Pincher saga. “At that moment where there is a vote in the House of Commons on privilege, his premiership would collapse. It is a guaranteed nailed on failure, and we cannot let it happen.”

Updated

Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday has just got under way, as she opens by asking whether today will show if there will be a “coronation or a contest”.

First up is Steve Baker, the former European Research Group chair, who is supporting Rishi Sunak.

Baker says Sunak will provide “competence, stability and professionalism”, but said he backed Liz Truss in the summer as it was a choice made by other Eurosceptics who had initially supported Suella Braverman. He said he didn’t campaign hard in the summer as he was happy with either candidate.

Updated

Good morning from London, as we enter the penultimate day before we know who will be on the ballot in the Conservative party leadership contest.

Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt will be continuing to canvas supporters, with Sunak leading with the number of MPs who have publicly announced they will vote for him in the round of voting at 2pm on Monday.

The former chancellor held talks with Johnson that went late into the night on Saturday, over a potential deal or cooperation. The former prime minister, who is hoping to return to Downing Street, flew back from holiday in the Dominican Republic on Saturday morning and was photographed canvassing the support of MPs.

Mordaunt will be appearing on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenessberg from 9am, along with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.

Steve Baker and Chris Heaton-Harris are among those talking to Sophy Ridge on Sky from 8:30pm

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
How to watch the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 28
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
TikTok star, 31, has been missing for 10 days after visiting Georgia strip club
Schneider hasn’t called his son or posted to social media in more than a week, which hs sister says is not normal
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Kendrick Lamar: GNX review – stunning surprise from a rapper determined to be the greatest
After his beef with Drake, Lamar expands his list of targets with enthralling rhymes and adventurous arrangements. At this point, he’s deferring only to God
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Recognizing ultra-processed foods
Processing isn’t inherently negative; the extent of processing and its impact on nutrient density are critical factors to consider.
Fortune
Fortune
Dispatch From Trump World: The Spirit of '24
"It's harder to be snotty or snarky when I'm looking you in the eye.”
Reason
Reason
Why The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is not new this week, November 25-29
CBS is not airing new episodes of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from November 25-29 as the Thanksgiving holiday impacts the TV schedule.
WhatToWatch
WhatToWatch
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play