Watch out, Rishi Sunak: Rivals Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss closing gap in UK PM race

The battle for 10 Downing Street heated up further on Tuesday, as former finance minister Rishi Sunak once again came out on top, albeit with a narrowed lead. The latest round of voting among Conservative Party members saw Sunak’s two remaining rivals — Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss — closing the gap.

Sunak received 118 votes in the fourth round of voting on Tuesday, just shy of the 120-mark or one-third of Conservative Party MPs needed to confirm his place as one of the final contenders in the race to replace outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The 42-year-old leader increased his tally from Monday’s 115.

While former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch was knocked out of the competition, junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss bettered their performance, spelling trouble for Sunak.

Mordaunt finished second with 92 votes, up from 82 votes in the third round of voting among party members. Truss, trailing behind Mordaunt, increased her vote share from 71 to 86 this time.

WHY SUNAK SHOULD BE WORRIED

It is significant that between the third and fourth round of voting, Sunak’s vote share has risen by only three, whereas Truss and Mordaunt have seen a jump of 15 and 10 votes respectively.

As many as 358 Tory MPs will continue voting each day till only two candidates remain. Every time a candidate is eliminated, his supporters will be up for grabs. The Rishi Sunak camp is apparently trying to woo voters from Kemi Badenoch’s camp ahead of the fifth round of voting on Wednesday.

Since Boris Johnson said he would resign earlier this month after his scandal-ridden administration dramatically lost the support of many from his own Tory party, the contest to replace him has become increasingly ugly, with the contenders trading personal barbs and challenging records.

READ | Who is Rishi Sunak, one of the favourites to replace Boris Johnson as British PM

Sunak, whose resignation as finance minister precipitated Johnson’s downfall, is pegged as the favourite and has consistently emerged the frontrunner in all rounds of voting so far. In a poll carried out by JL Partners, he aced the “Good PM” rating and received positive ratings amongst the Tory voters.

Although the general consensus is that Sunak is guaranteed a spot in the final two, the final result is less easier to predict. Polls show that he would lose to any of his remaining opponents if he makes it through to the final stage of the contest, when rank and file party members get to vote.

A YouGov poll of Conservative members showed Sunak would lose a runoff vote against all the others. The survey of 725 members predicted Truss would beat Sunak by 54 to 35 and Mordaunt would beat him 51 to 37.

On the bookies’ chart, Lizz Truss is the new favourite to succeed Johnson, despite receiving the lowest number of votes of the three candidates in the fourth round.

Another factor that could influence the numbers game is the increasing number of personal attacks against Sunak. Last week, Boris Johnson famously called on his allies to vote for “anyone but Rishi Sunak” and reportedly spoke with eliminated contenders to get them to not back his former Chancellor of the Exchequer. Now, a senior Conservative party MP has accused Sunak’s campaign of playing dirty behind the scenes.

This raises the question: of Mordaunt and Truss, who would be the more formidable opponent in the final two?

PENNY MORDAUNT

Before the fourth round of polling, Minister of State for Trade Penny Mordaunt was at the head of the pack on the bookies’ charts. She is the Conservative MP for Portsmouth North, and has been a member of Parliament continuously since May 6, 2010.

Mordaunt, 49, was the first woman appointed the UK’s defence secretary, a post she held for only 85 days. One of her key policy changes during her brief tenure was implementing a pay increase that ensured no serviceman or woman was paid below the living wage.

She has also served as armed-forces minister and international-development secretary. After endorsing Boris Johnson’s rival in the 2019 PM race, Mordaunt was shunted to more junior roles in the government, because of which her public perception took a beating.

In recent days, Mordaunt has come under fire from her rivals and their backers. Attorney general Suella Praverman, who crashed out of the PM race, called the junior trade minister too “woke” to lead the Tory party or become prime minister. Lord Frost, Britain’s former Brexit negotiator, claimed she was ineffectual when she worked under him as deputy negotiator.

LIZ TRUSS

As Britain’s top diplomat and a former trade secretary, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was seen as a frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson long before he resigned.

An MP for South West Norfolk since 2010, Truss began climbing up the ministerial ladder soon after entering parliament, holding various cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May and Johnson.

The 46-year-old has been dubbed the new ‘Iron Lady’ by her supporters, a reference to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

Truss has vowed to bring about the biggest economic change the UK has seen in 30 years in her pitch to become the next prime minister. In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, she has made a commitment to increase defence spending up to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by 2030.

A spokesperson for Truss said it was “time for the party to unite behind a candidate who will govern in a Conservative way and who has shown she can deliver time and again”.

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