Police are investigating after a letter was delivered to former Tory leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt threatening to “shoot her in the head”.
The death threat was sent to the constituency office of the Portsmouth North MP before she was voted out of the contest to become leader of the Conservative Party.
During her campaign, the trade minister had complained of her opponents carrying out a “black ops” operation to scupper her chances.
The Portsmouth News reported that the letter included threats to “shoot her in the head” and “kill her family”.
A Hampshire police spokeswoman said: “At 11.50am on July 22, we received a report of a letter containing threats to kill a Portsmouth woman and her family which was sent to her office in Lakeside, North Harbour.
“We attended and safeguarding measures were put in place to minimise the risk to the woman and her family, employees and the wider community.
“Our inquiries into this incident are ongoing and it has been referred to the Parliamentary Liaison Team.
“We take the safeguarding of our MPs incredibly seriously and there are robust systems in place to ensure they can carry out their job safely.”
Ms Mordaunt’s office was approached for comment.
The international trade minister and former defence secretary was the subject of hostile briefings by her opponents in the race to replace Boris Johnson.
Her position on trans rights came under intense media scrutiny before she was eventually knocked out of the race last week.
Ms Mordaunt denied that, during her time as minister for women and equalities, she wanted to push through a policy that would end the requirement for trans people to obtain a medical diagnosis before they could legally change gender.
She also hit out at personal “smears” against her as the Tory leadership race became increasingly toxic.
The two remaining candidates – Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, and Liz Truss, the foreign secretary – will face off in a televised debate on BBC One tonight at 9pm.
