Rishi Sunak could replace Liz Truss as Prime Minister later today after Boris Johnson ruled himself out of the race for No 10.Tory MPs will choose who they want to be their new leader in the first stage of the contest this afternoon, should both remaining candidates get the 100 nominations required to reserve a place on the ballot.
There is uncertainty over Sunak's rival Penny Mordaunt' s prospects of securing sufficient support from MPs. If she falls short of this total by the deadline of 2pm, or pulls out of the contest, Sunak will take charge of the party without the need for a vote.
It comes after Johnson dramatically withdrew from the race saying there was a "very good chance" he could have been back in No 10 by the end of the week if he had stood.In the lead up to his statement Johnson reached out to Sunak and Mordaunt to work together in the national interest and end the Tory psychodrama.Sunak, the former chancellor, already has more than 140 public declarations of support, while Mordaunt had fewer than 30 on Sunday night.
Her team is hoping the departure of Johnson will see a swathe of MPs who were backing him or are yet to declare swing behind her.A campaign source confirmed she was still in the running on Sunday, arguing she was the candidate who Labour feared the most."Penny is the unifying candidate who is most likely to keep the wings of the Conservative Party together and polling shows that she is the most likely candidate to hold on to the seats the Conservative Party gained in 2019," the source said.Reports have stated she already has the 100 MPs required to reach the next stage of the contest which would involved a vote among Tory members.
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