Vicious backbiting from the right of the Tories turned on Penny Mordaunt today as she surged to become the bookies’ favourite for Prime Minister.
Right-wingers - who are expected to gather round Liz Truss when Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch are knocked out - had focused their fire on ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
But focus shifted dramatically to Ms Mordaunt after she got 67 MPs’ votes in the first round - and Ms Truss got 50. That could put her in the members’ vote against Mr Sunak, or even against Ms Truss.
A Smarkets projection claimed Ms Mordaunt could beat Mr Sunak to get 133 MP votes in the final MPs’ vote next week. And a YouGov poll of 879 Tory members put Ms Mordaunt as the favourite on 27%, well ahead of Mr Sunak.
Betfair now have the Trade Minister as the 4/5 favourite, with Truss on 9/2 and Sunak on 7/2.
As she surged ahead with a punchy leadership launch, Tories accused her of changing her views on trans rights. She had supported reforms before then proclaiming that, as a woman, she doesn’t have a “willy”.
Sources also accused her of being “Part-time Penny”. One told the Mirror: “You may be impressive but can you run a government department? That’s the boring stuff that really matters.”
And today, former Brexit minister Lord Frost - a leading outrider of the Tory right - launched a scathing attack, saying she was not up to the job when she was his deputy in talks with the EU.
Speaking on TalkTV, Lord Frost said she lacked a grasp of the detail, was unwilling to deliver tough messages to Brussels, and that he had had to ask Boris Johnson to replace her.
"I am quite surprised at where she is in this leadership race. She was my deputy - notionally, more than really - in the Brexit talks last year," he said.
"I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary in the negotiations last year. She wouldn't always deliver tough messages to the European Union when that was necessary.
"She wasn't fully accountable, she wasn't always visible. Sometimes I didn't even know where she was. This became such a problem that, after six months, I had to ask the Prime Minister to move her on and find somebody else to support me."
Lord Frost said he has "grave reservations" as to whether Ms Mordaunt is up to the job of prime minister.
"If you are a prime minister you have got to be able to take responsibility, you have got to be able to run the machine, you have got to be able to take tough decisions, deliver tough messages," he told TalkTV.
"Anybody can be photo'd in a video with I Vow To Thee My Country, but it is what you do in practice. Are you able to be tough, are you able to lead, are you able to take responsibility?
"From the basis of what I saw, I'm afraid I would have grave reservations about that."
A social media link to a clip of his interview was re-tweeted by Treasury Chief Secretary Simon Clarke - who is backing Liz Truss for leader.
Mr Clarke said: "Lord Frost's warning is a really serious one. Conservatives - and, far more importantly, our country - need a leader who is tested and ready."
Royal Navy reservist Ms Mordaunt has trodden a diplomatic path, supporting Brexit while opposing bids to oust Theresa May in 2018.
But she also took part in a reality TV show Splash and used the word “cock” six times in a Commons debate as part of a game with fellow reservists.
Born to an ex-paratrooper, named after a Navy ship and related to both Angela Lansbury and Labour's first chancellor Philip Snowden, she was educated at a Catholic school, a drama school and Reading University.
Since becoming an MP in 2010 she has worked in a string of top jobs including Defence Secretary but was sacked from the Cabinet by Boris Johnson - only to be brought back at a more junior rank.
It came as Rishi Sunak struggled to say when he first started plotting against Boris Johnson in a BBC Radio 4 interview - after a website bearing his slogan, which now redirects to his website, was registered months ago.
Mr Sunak was confronted with today’s Mirror front page, showing how some Brits are using washing-up liquid to wash their hair while Tories discuss tax cuts.
Asked if he, a multi-millionaire, was too out-of-touch to be PM he replied: "I don't judge people by their bank accounts, I judge them by their character and I think people can judge me by my actions over the past couple of years.
"Whenever I have needed to step in to support people I have and furlough is a fantastic example of that.
"But what I would say as a Conservative is I believe in hard work and aspiration and that's my story and if I'm prime minister then I'll be making the case for that with vigour."
He added “of course, of course, of course” he would stay in the UK for the rest of his career and retire here, after coverage of his legal status.
He previously held a US Green Card including for some time while he was chancellor.
Mr Sunak insisted: “I was living and working and studying in America at the time but after that I returned to the United Kingdom and decided to try and serve my country as an MP and then in Government and now, hopefully, if I'm fortunate enough, as prime minister.
"That's because I believe I'm the best person to lead us through the challenges we face, do that in an honest and responsible way.
"But also I know I've got the energy, the experience and the vision to grow our economy, grasp the opportunities I see ahead of us."
