All day yesterday, Conservative MPs were setting out who they are backing to become the UK’s next prime minister – and we can expect more of this today.
Penny Mordaunt is the only candidate to confirm they are running so far, but that hasn’t stopped MPs speaking up for others. A few them shared their thoughts on Newsnight last night.
Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, who’s backing Boris Johnson to be next the party leader and prime minister, said the reason Johnson has not formally declared his campaign is because “he’s probably waiting to see whether he felt he’d got the support… I’d say he’s certainly up for it”.
Rishi Sunak backer, Conservative MP Craig Williams, said Sunak will likely respond to calls to run for leader “in the coming hours or days… there are clearly over 100 colleagues publicly declaring parliamentary support.”
Declaring her run earlier, Penny Mordaunt, the current leader of the House of Commons, said she had been encouraged by colleagues.
One Tory MP who has publicly backed her is Bob Seely who said: “I think we owe the country a collective responsibility to apologise” adding that he believes Mordaunt has the best chance of providing “unity and leadership” within the Tory Party.
Source: BBC