The Conservative party is facing a brutal summer of vicious infighting, as Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss slug it out for the keys to 10 Downing Street in what is expected to be the most tightly-fought leadership contest in decades.
There were appeals for the two contenders to succeed Boris Johnson to avoid “blue on blue” attacks on one another, amid Tory fears that a bloody battle will undermine efforts to restore public trust in the party.
The new prime minister will be chosen by an estimated 160,000 Conservative members, prompting calls for an immediate election after the new Tory leader is installed on 5 September to give all voters a say on who runs Britain.
Labour’s Conor McGinn said Tory members were being offered “two continuity candidates… both stooges of the Johnson administration whose fingerprints are all over the state the country finds itself in today”.
Mr Sunak emerged as Tory MPs’ choice after five rounds of voting at Westminster, scooping 137 votes – 38 per cent of the parliamentary party.
But Ms Truss was firm bookies’ favourite after coming from behind to pip Penny Mordaunt at the post on Wednesday. Polls have suggested she holds a comfortable lead over the former chancellor among grassroots Tories, and William Hill quoted odds of 4/7 on her victory, making Mr Sunak the 6/4 outsider.
Ms Mordaunt, who had held onto second place behind Mr Sunak through all the previous rounds, slipped behind with 105 votes (29 per cent) to 113 (32 per cent) for Ms Truss, who scooped almost half of the 59 supporters of fellow right-winger Kemi Badenoch, eliminated in the previous round.
In a video message following his victory, Mr Sunak said he was the only candidate who can beat Sir Keir Starmer and Labour at the next general election.
Declaring himself “humbled” to reach the final two, he said he would offer “a positive message” to “restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite our country”.
Ms Truss said: “As prime minister, I would hit the ground running from day one, unite the party and govern in line with Conservative values. I am excited to now take to the country to make the case to the Conservative Party about my bold new economic plan that will cut taxes, grow our economy and unleash the potential of everyone in our United Kingdom.”
The party released a schedule of 12 hustings across the UK, starting on 28 July in Leeds and concluding with a 31 August clash in London just three days before voting closes on 3 September.
With ballot packs arriving on doorsteps from 1 August, Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will have just days to make an impression on the thousands of Tories who are expected to vote immediately online.
But in a quirk of the rules, members who change their minds before the deadline of 3 September can amend their vote by casting another ballot – with only the latest one counting.
Mr Sunak and Ms Truss have already kicked chunks out of one another in TV debates, with the foreign secretary accusing the former chancellor of putting the UK on the path to recession and him asking whether she was more embarrassed to be a former Remainer or a former Liberal Democrat.
The divisiveness of their contest is likely to be amplified by signals from Mr Johnson that he wants Mr Truss, who remained loyally in his cabinet as dozens of other ministers walked out, to vanquish Mr Sunak, whose resignation triggered the process leading to his removal.
In his last Commons appearance to say “hasta la vista, baby” to MPs, the outgoing PM made little secret of his preference, lashing out at Treasury resistance to his investment plans while lauding the foreign policy successes of his administration.
The contenders’ next televised encounter will be an hour-long BBC debate on Monday, followed by a Sky News face-off on 4 August.
The battle will expose a clear rift within the Tory party between Ms Truss’s right-wing agenda of immediate tax cuts and confrontation with Brussels over the post-Brexit settlement and Mr Sunak’s more cautious approach focusing on sound money and avoiding “fairytale” tax giveaways.
As she congratulated her two rivals on their success, Ms Mordaunt made clear that she hopes for a senior role in the administration of whichever of them wins the premiership, saying: “Our mission is not only to deliver on what we promised but to win the fight against Labour at the next general election. I hope to play my part in both.”
One Mr Sunak supporter said he was confident party members will recognise the former chancellor as the candidate who appeals to both Leavers and Remainers, and to people living in the south and north.
“I’m very confident that the Conservative party will decide that defeating inflation, fiscal responsibility and sound money have to come before tax cuts,” the MP added. “You can’t have tax cuts without defeating inflation.”
Stoke-on-Trent North MP Jonathan Gullis, who came out for Ms Truss earlier on Wednesday, said he did so because “despite being a Remainer, she talks toughest on Brexit”.
He said voters “want someone who is going to stand up for the country and make the most of Brexit opportunities”, adding: “I have not heard enough of that from Rishi.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey demanded an early general election to allow all voters a chance to pass their verdicts on the eventual winner of the Tory contest.
“Everyone knows Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are two sides of the same coin,” said Sir Ed. “Both propped up Boris Johnson whilst he lied to the British people and failed to deal with the healthcare crisis and cost of living emergency.”
University of Sussex politics professor Paul Webb said that the Tory members who are about to pick the next PM are “older, whiter, more male, more affluent, more in favour of low taxes and spending, more socially conservative and more in favour of Brexit” than the electorate as a whole.
“The latest opinion polls of Tory members suggest that Truss is likely to prevail against Sunak because she best embodies these attitudes, even though she appears to be less popular with voters,” said Prof Webb. “The Conservative Party has a long track record of successfully doing what it takes to win and retain power, but it might be about to take a big electoral risk.”
