Penny Mordaunt has backed Liz Truss to become prime minister, saying the Tories “could lose an election” if they get the wrong decision in the contest.
Mordaunt, who was beaten by Truss to be Rishi Sunak’s challenger in the final stage of the Conservative leadership race, said Truss was “the candidate of hope”. “Watching her over the last few weeks has made me want to help her, help her win, help build the team we need to win the country and give us as a party and as a nation the pride and the confidence we need. to reach our full potential,” said the MP for Portsmouth North.
The approval will be a major blow for Sunak after a bitter campaign in which Mordaunt’s supporters blamed Truss for a damaging “blue vs blue dogfight” which saw Mordaunt fall in the last round of voting in deputies
The foreign secretary has announced a number of other high-profile endorsements in recent days, including leadership candidates Nadhim Zahawi and Tom Tugendhat.
Introducing Truss at the latest leadership calls in Exeter, Mordaunt said: “I could have stayed out, I could be drinking pina coladas right now, but I’m not because this is too important and I’m not going to let it go.”
“Who can direct? Who can build this team and deliver for our country? Who has this bold economic plan that our nation needs? Who has reach? Who can relate to people? Who understands that people need help with the cost of living now? And who is going to properly hit our opponents?
“Who will take seats and win back councils and who best embodies the vision and values that the British public had in their minds and hearts when they voted in 2016 and 2019?
“At the start of this final phase of this competition, I didn’t know the answer to these questions, but I’ve seen enough of them to know who I’m going to put my faith in, and that’s Liz Truss.”
Truss, in his opening speech, said of Mordaunt: “She’s a great person, she’s a great politician, she’s a great patriot and I’m proud to call her my friend.”
In a back-and-forth event that was notably less heated than previous clashes between the two rivals, the only recipient of any real anger was the leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon.
Referring to his upbringing in Paisley, Mr Truss branded the Prime Minister an “attention seeker”, saying: “I think the best thing to do with Nicola Sturgeon is to ignore her.”
Asked about another Scottish independence referendum should he win the keys to Downing Street, Truss simply replied: “No, no, no.”
Both candidates were asked about the most embarrassing moments of their lives: while Truss refused to answer because her “daughters will be watching”, Sunak took the opportunity for a little self-deprecation: ” Some of you may have seen recently that I was having a hard time paying for gas in a car that wasn’t mine, so come on, I won’t make that mistake again.”