Rishi Sunak has been spotted outside his London residence after becoming the firm frontrunner to be the next prime minister after Boris Johnson ended his comeback bid and rival Penny Mordaunt is battling to win sufficient support from Tory MPs.
Mr Sunak, a former chancellor, and representative for Richmond, swiftly hit the threshold of 100 nominations from Conservative colleagues ahead of the deadline of 2pm on Monday (October 24).
Ms Mordaunt appears far behind, but allies insist they are “confident” she will hit the target, which would see the Commons Leader face off against Mr Sunak in an online ballot of Tory party members.
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But if she fails Mr Sunak will effectively receive a “coronation” from Conservative MPs and quickly succeed Liz Truss as prime minister – seven weeks after he lost out to her in the last contest.
On Monday (October 24), photos of Rishi Sunak were captured outside his London residence, where he faces a wait to see whether he will become the new PM today.
Boris Johnson had returned home from a Caribbean holiday as he plotted a return to No 10 less than two months after being ousted following a series of scandals, but later ruled out standing.
In a statement on Sunday evening, he said there was a “very good chance” he could have been back in No 10 by the end of the week if he had stood but admitting he could not unite his warring party.
His efforts to “reach out” to his rivals – Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt – to work together in the national interest had not been successful, he said, so he was dropping out.
He lagged far behind Mr Sunak in public declarations of support but claimed to have amassed at least 102 nominations.
Ms Mordaunt, who has around 26 public supporters, will be trying to convince Johnson-backers to come over to her side but Mr Sunak appeared to be the immediate beneficiary.
Victory for either Mr Sunak or Ms Mordaunt will mean the Tories are on to their third prime minister since they won the 2019 general election under Mr Johnson’s leadership.
If Ms Mordaunt does win enough support to make the next stage, MPs will decide which of the two candidates they prefer in an “indicative” vote.
There will then be a final online poll of party members to decide the outcome, with the result due on Friday – unless one of the candidates pulls out.
Ms Mordaunt could find herself under pressure to withdraw if she finishes a long way behind Mr Sunak in the poll of MPs – should it go to a vote, even though she is popular with the Tory grassroots.
At the same time, however, many activists – many of whom loathe Mr Sunak for his role in bringing down Mr Johnson – will be furious if they are denied a say in the contest.
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