Three Conservative MPs have officially joined the race to replace Rishi Sunak.
Former security minister Tom Tugendhat launched his bid to lead the Conservatives on Wednesday night, following shadow home secretary James Cleverly.
Ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick also submitted his nomination papers on Thursday morning.
Mr Tugendhat, who is seen as a centrist Tory MP, backed Ms Truss to be Prime Minister in 2022 after he was eliminated in the race to replace Boris Johnson.
He dodged questions about whether supporting the short-lived PM and her economic plan showed a lack of judgment on his part.
“Liz demonstrated a recklessness that surprised all of us,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
He added: “What we need to be doing is focusing on the challenges that are facing us in the future.
“Over the last three, four years we have failed to deliver. That’s exactly why I’m standing because I think we need to unite this country. We need to rebuild that trust, and we need to deliver.”
Despite being from the centrist One Nation section of the party, he said he would be prepared to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in his pitch to Tory MPs and members.
He denied the suggestion was political opportunism.
MP Danny Kruger submitted Mr Jenrick’s nomination papers this morning. They include a proposer, seconder, and the eight MPs supporting Mr Jenrick, his campaign team said.
"To have any path back to government we must win back those voters we have lost, across the board but particularly to Reform,” Mr Kruger said.
“At the same time we have to bring our party together, united behind one set of coherent Conservative principles.
"The British people need to be convinced that we are the most responsible and competent party of government for us to have any chance of winning in 2029, especially when we know Labour are set to fail on so many important issues for our country.
"Rob Jenrick will do that. He has the energy, temperament and policy agenda to take on our rivals and lead us back to power in five years."
Mr Cleverly on Tuesday became the first Conservative MP to confirm he would be standing to be the party’s next leader.
He warned that the Tories must “get out of that habit” of political infighting following the mauling the party received at the general election.
“We’ve also got to recognise that at this general election those things we have achieved were overshadowed by a number of negatives, so we didn’t get the cut-through for our successes and the criticisms really, really landed,” he said.
Nominations to replace Mr Sunak opened at 7pm last night and will close at 2.30pm on Monday.
Kemi Badenoch, Priti Patel, Suella Braverman and Mel Stride are also expected to officially announce they are running in the coming days.
The parliamentary party will narrow the list down to four candidates, who will make their case to members at the Conservative Conference in the autumn.
Two final two candidates will then be subject to a vote by party members and the winner announced on November 2.
