Supporters of defeated Tory leader candidate Penny Mordaunt are reportedly planning to stop Liz Truss from becoming Prime Minister.
Earlier this week, the Trade Secretary was the latest contender to drop out of the race for Conservative Party leader after failing to get as many MPs’ votes as Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Now her supporters are organizing a ‘stop Liz Truss’ campaign to ensure the foreign secretary does not succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, according to the i newspaper.
As part of the alleged plan, moderate Tory MPs plan to lobby party members in their constituencies to support former chancellor Mr Sunak in a final vote by the entire Conservative Party membership in September, before Mr Johnson is expected to leave a number 10.
The report said some of the motivations for the scheme included retaliation for hostile media briefings against Ms Mordaunt, which her supporters blamed on Ms Truss’s allies, and the fear that a government led by Ms Truss would caused them to lose their seats.
Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss
(AP/Reuters)
But a new poll of 730 Tory MPs suggests Ms Truss is the favorite between her and Mr Sunak.
Just 24 hours after the pair reached the final stage of the competition, a YouGov poll gave her a 24-point lead over her rival.
The poll – carried out after MPs’ final vote on Wednesday – showed 62 per cent of party members intending to vote for Ms Truss, compared to 38 per cent for Mr Sunak.
Despite her apparent popularity, a Tory source said a number of Tory association chairmen had agreed to lobby against Truss’s campaign in an attempt to sabotage her bid to get into Downing Street.
MPs and local party chairmen said they had been inundated with emails from members furious that Ms Mordaunt had failed to make the cuts, i also reported.
Their view contrasts with Ms Truss’ confidence that the Conservative Party will be more united under her leadership and that she is the candidate who would be Labour’s “worst nightmare”.
One backbench MP, according to the newspaper, said: “I had members tearing up their party membership over the result.
“They are absolutely crazy. A few of us will now urge our members to vote for Rishi.
“It’s not because we’re rooting for him, it’s because he’s the better option than Liz.”
“I have a few hundred members in my local association and I will suggest they support Rishi.”
Former Chancellor and Mrs Truss’s Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak
(Victoria Jones/PA)
Another supporter of Ms Mordaunt said Ms Truss had “run a vicious campaign against Penny” and that if she became Prime Minister “we are totally screwed”.
At the official launch of the campaign, Mr Truss was asked about her allies who have publicly criticized Ms Mordaunt.
After the first round of MPs’ votes in the leadership race, Ms Mordaunt came a surprise second place, pipping Ms Truss to third.
One of the “vicious” comments made by Ms Truss’s allies was from former Brexit secretary David Frost.
He had said Ms Mordaunt, who has less cabinet experience than her rivals, would need “stabilisers” as prime minister and that he had asked Mr Johnson to “move her on” as his deputy after six months.
Ms Truss said she was “putting forward a positive agenda” and that she would not make “disparaging comments” about her rivals.
The Independent has contacted the offices of Ms Mordaunt and Ms Truss for comment.
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