Can Truss Turn Up Heat To Battle Rishi In Run-Off?

LIZ Truss has narrowed the race to join Rishi Sunak in the final head to-head showdown for the Tory leadership.

- Macer Hall

Mr Sunak topped the latest poll but Ms Truss is now gaining momentum and is set to overhaul secondplaced hopeful Penny Mordaunt if the Tory right get behind her.

Mr Sunak finished with 115 votes last night, up from 101 in the previous round. Ms Truss won 71 votes in the ballot of MPs, up from 64. Ms Mordaunt lost one supporter to clinch 82 votes.

Former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a supporter of Ms Truss, said: “This is all about momentum. Liz Truss has gone forward, Penny has stalled and gone backwards.” Ms Mordaunt’s campaign has suffered after days of attacks on her ministerial record from rival camps.

Senior backbencher Tom Tugendhat was eliminated from the contest after coming bottom in yesterday’s poll with 31 votes.

And yet more uncertainty was thrown into the race by another unexpected surge by outsider Kemi Badenoch.

The former equalities minister gained an extra nine backers in yesterday’s vote to take her total to 58.

She tweeted: “On to the next vote. Thank you to all my colleagues for their support. It’s all to play for.

“Continued momentum, closing the gap. I am the only change candidate left in the race. I’m in it to win.”

A spokesman for her campaign said: “Kemi is pleased to have taken it to the next vote. She has momentum over both Mordaunt and Truss. It’s all to play for and Kemi is in it to win. She wants to deliver change and is the only candidate in the race capable of delivering it.”