Despite the enormous gap in support between her and front-runner Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt is “certain” that she will appear in the Tory leadership vote, according to Independent.
Following Boris Johnson’s withdrawal from the race yesterday night, Mr. Sunak and Ms. Mordaunt remain the only candidates who have publicly stated their interest in succeeding Liz Truss. As of the morning of October 24th, the former chancellor has 159 nominations, while Ms. Mordaunt is trailing far behind with only 25 public statements of support.
According to the Conservative MP Damian Green, Penny Mordaunt will be able to secure the necessary 100 supporters to compete against Rishi Sunak for the position of the next leader of the Conservative Party. He said that “many people weren’t revealing publicly what they were doing; I mean, in fact, Penny’s numbers are way over the disclosed ones already.”
Johnson reiterated that he has “passed the very high hurdle of 102 nominations” necessary to be on the Conservative MP ballot and accused his opponents of failing to unite with him for the nation’s good. Boris Johnson abandoned the race stating that “you can’t lead effectively unless you have a united party in parliament,” adding that he had “unfortunately come to the conclusion that this would just not be the correct thing to do.”
According to Sir Roger Gale, Boris Johnson’s decision to withdraw from the race for the Tory leadership was “inevitable” because he had overestimated party support. The seasoned Tory MP claimed that the former prime minister was unhappy to discover that he was not as well-liked as he had anticipated upon his return from vacation.
Who Is Endorsing Sunak?
Michael Gove is one of the influential people who support Rishi Sunak. The longtime senior cabinet member and former leveling-up secretary urged Tories to “rally around” Mr. Sunak.
It is time now for the Conservative party to unite behind @RishiSunak – there are big challenges ahead and the national interest requires us to show resolution and fortitude under new leadership https://t.co/BAgytuLg5g
— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) October 24, 2022
Priti Patel, a former home secretary, has also endorsed Rishi Sunak for Conservative Party leadership and premiership. Following Jeremy Hunt, Kemi Badenoch, and Grant Shapps, the home secretary who was a key player in the uprising against Liz Truss, Ms. Patel is the most notable heavyweight to endorse the front-runner publicly.
In these difficult times for our country we must unite by putting public service first and work together. We care about our country and with the enormous challenges upon us we must put political differences aside to give @RishiSunak the best chance of succeeding.
— Priti Patel MP (@pritipatel) October 24, 2022
Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Housing, said that Rishi Sunak is running for Tory leader in the 2019 manifesto. If Mr. Sunak were to win, the Home Secretary told Sky News that no general election would be necessary because he would uphold the proposal that was supported by the electorate in the previous election.
A supporter of Rishi Sunak, Mr. Shapps, stated that “the 2019 manifesto is the stuff — the paper if you like — that Rishi is standing on. We elect a party, and we elect individuals as members of that party.” He acknowledged that four prime ministers in five years is “rare,” but he added that “of course, one of those prime ministers was the one who was elected with that program.”