UK Politics

Liz Truss has been accused of “black-ops” in her desperate fight to stay in the Tory leadership race, as the party’s right-wing boosted her chances of being the next prime minister.Two leading supporters of the foreign secretary branded key rival Penny Mordaunt unfit to be prime minister as the contest turned nasty and undermined her claim to be fighting a clean campaign.The Tory infighting comes as one senior Truss supporter revealed frustration with MPs who have failed to vote for her as promised, telling The Independent: “This is the most duplicitous lying electorate you have ever come across.”David Frost accused Ms Mordaunt of failing to “master the detail” when she was his deputy as Brexit minister and urged Kemi Badenoch to pull out of the contest so there can be “unity among free marketeers” in backing Ms Truss.The attacks were condemned by David Davis, the former cabinet minister and a Mordaunt backer, as the “clockwork” response to his candidate surging ahead.Recommended“Somebody gets ahead and looks to be the real challenger and then the black-ops start,” Mr Davis told Sky News, shortly after Ms Mordaunt narrowed Rishi Sunak’s early lead.In contrast, Ms Truss is languishing in third place with just 64 votes – behind the 101 for Mr Sunak and 83 for Ms Mordant – ahead of a weekend of make-or-break live TV debates.But the foreign secretary’s campaign was boosted on Thursday night by the endorsement of Suella Braverman, who was eliminated from the contest in the second ballot earlier in the day, and some of the attorney general’s backers.Earlier, Ms Truss raised eyebrows by promising a fresh budget “on day one” of taking power, an event that would take weeks of preparation, while failing to flesh out her promise of a new economic plan.Her campaign has stuttered despite shifting to the right by floating withdrawal from the European Court of Human Rights and with a pledge to waive green levies on fuel bills.Another Truss ally admitted the next round on Monday will be “absolutely critical”, as she wooed Ms Braverman, the ousted candidate, to try to secure the bulk of her 27 votes. The foreign secretary’s spokesperson lavished praise on the defeated candidate, saying: “Suella Braverman ran a campaign that she can rightly be proud [of].”Sources later confirmed to The Independent that Ms Braverman would vote for the foreign secretary in the next ballot. Steve Baker, who had been backing Ms Braverman before she was eliminated, said he would also now back Ms Truss and there were reports that the entire Brexit-supporting European Research Group had been instructed to throw its weight behind the foreign secretary.Ms Truss will need to scoop up almost all of Ms Braverman’s 27 votes to close the gap with Ms Mordaunt, whose support grew the most, by 16 votes, in the second ballot.The former defence secretary also secured the coup of endorsement from Tobias Ellwood, the Commons defence committee chair and former leading Remainer.Mr Ellwood suggested Ms Mordaunt was well-placed to collect the 32 votes won by Tom Tugendhat – the candidate likely to be knocked out in Monday’s third ballot.He pointed to their shared stance on defence issues, saying: “I do see the possibility of a lot of those migrating [to Ms Mordaunt] and I invite Tom Tugendhat himself to support Penny.”The first stage of the contest will not end until next Wednesday – unless someone drops out – after which Tory party members will choose between the two surviving candidates.A bombshell poll on Wednesday gave Ms Mordaunt a huge lead among the grassroots – who appear to favour a clean break with cabinet ministers stained by Boris Johnson’s reign.Mr Sunak’s camp said it was “pleased” with his 101 votes and argued rivals are shifting their positions, a source saying: “Some of the other candidates are now starting to back off what they said before.”The former chancellor would not be engaging in “those funny games some people have suggested”, the source insisted – amid suggestions that votes could be “lent” to Ms Truss, to knock out Ms Mordaunt.That looks highly unlikely anyway, given Mr Sunak would have hoped to have secured many more than 101 supporters by this stage.Ms Badenoch remains Ms Truss’s rival to be the candidate for the right of the party, with 49 votes – while the centrist Mr Tugendhat slipped back, from 37 votes.But Lord Frost said Ms Badenoch should show “pragmatism” and “stand down in return for a serious job in a Truss administration”.“Liz’s depth of experience, her energy and ideas – as well as the simple fact she has the most votes of the three – put her in the lead,” said the former Brexit minister.Ms Badenoch’s campaign, however, said she had “no intention of stepping down and is in it to win”.Earlier, Lord Frost lashed out at Ms Mordaunt’s abilities, saying he was “quite surprised at where she is in this leadership race”.“I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary in the negotiations last year. She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the European Union when that was necessary,” he warned.After the ballot results, Simon Clarke, the Treasury chief secretary, said: “David Frost is a very senior figure in the Conservative Party. He’s worked very closely with all the major players in this race. He’s made his views known and I think that is a material factor.”At her launch event, Ms Truss was put on the spot about her team’s aggressive briefing, promising not to make “disparaging comments” about her rivals.Defending her decision not to quit over the Chris Pincher scandal, as other cabinet members walked out, she said: “I’m a loyal person, I’m loyal to Boris Johnson.”But General Lord Richard Dannatt, the former head of the army, called the launch “cringeworthy”, telling GB News she was “tainted with Boris Johnson’s legacy”, because of her failure to resign.Ms Braverman also lashed out at Ms Mordaunt for inserting gender-neutral language in the draft of the maternity bill, which originally referred to a pregnant person, not a pregnant woman.“The responsible minister didn’t stand up for women and didn’t actually reflect the views of a lot of our party on wanting women to be authentically represented on the face of the bill and in legislation,” she told Sky News.Ms Mordaunt has denied the charge, insisting she changed the bill “to use female terms” after it was drafted by somebody else.Speaking on LBC, Sir Keir Starmer said he didn’t “mind” which individual emerges victorious in the contest to replace Boris Johnson in No 10, and challenged them to go to the country in an election.RecommendedPressed on his views on Ms Mordaunt, the former Conservative defence secretary who has rapidly become a frontrunner in the contest, the Labour leader insisted: “I don’t mind who I face.”“We’re ready. Anybody who wants to call an election, whichever the candidate is, do it. Please do it so we can take our positive case to the country and bring about the positive change we really want”. More

Downing Street has admitted that Boris Johnson presided over a “nasty, misogynist culture” in No 10 but denied the prime minister himself was to blame.An ITV documentary aired on Thursday, Tonight: Boris Johnson: The Rise and Fall, included allegations that Mr Johnson brought with him to Downing Street “a very masculine culture … you know, lads down the pub.”The anonymous source, said to have worked in Downing Street, added, “If you were a female in that sort of zone, it’s actually quite uncomfortable to work in.”ITV reported that in response to the allegations Mr Johnson’s director of communications, Guto Harri, said the outgoing prime minister “carried the can for the bad behaviour of others”.Mr Harri said: “Previous aides who have devoted their lives to bringing down the PM did indeed preside over a nasty, misogynist culture.Recommended“Downing Street has been a much better place without them.”The key aide, who previously worked for Mr Johnson as London mayor before being brought into Downing Street in February, also reportedly said: “The vast majority of the press office are women, roughly half the private office and indeed most of the main teams in No10.” More

Day-to-day governing has “ground to a halt” while Boris Johnson’s new ministers focus their attention on the Tory leadership contest, opposition parties have warned.Reams of planned legislation to tackle social problems have been put on ice pending the result of the race – while a string of cabinet ministers have ditched parliamentary scrutiny sessions to focus on other matters.Even bids for the government’s “levelling-up” fund have been delayed following the sacking of the department’s top minister Michael Gove – a hold-up Labour blamed on Tory “chaos, distraction and self-indulgence”.It comes as the country faces a mounting cost of living crisis, heavy strain on ambulance services and an extreme heatwave next week.On Thursday, Dominic Raab became the latest cabinet minister to announce he would not attend a committee session to question him on the government’s planned British bill of rights.RecommendedMPs on the joint human rights committee said they were “deeply concerned” that the justice secretary would not be taking questions on “the most important piece of rights legislation this country has seen for nearly a quarter of a century”.Earlier this week, home secretary Priti Patel pulled out of another scrutiny session where she was likely to be grilled on the government’s flagship Rwanda deportation policy, citing “recent changes in government”.Ms Patel also left the father of a woman who was murdered in Exeter angry after she cancelled a long-planned meeting with him.Tony Cox, whose daughter Lorraine, 32, went missing on a night out in August 2020, had been due to discuss “serious police failings” and “lack of government action generally to improve women’s safety” with the home secretary.On Wednesday, health secretary Steve Barclay, who took up his role after his predecessor resigned last week, also skipped an urgent question in parliament about mounting pressures on the ambulance service.Labour’s Wes Streeting branded the no-show a “disgrace”, adding: “This isn’t even a government in office, let alone in power.”Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said on Thursday that it was “simply appalling that we’ve heard more from ministers about the Conservative Party leadership contest than about a genuine national emergency”.“We’ve not heard a peep out of the secretary of state for health on ambulance services, which are operating at the fringes of what is safe. It is time Conservative ministers put country over party, starting today,” she added.Other ministers are also not ruling out cancelling appearances. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is scheduled to appear at the environment audit committee next week to discuss progress in tackling the climate emergency. The Independent has contacted his department to ask whether he would be attending and was told that while he is still scheduled to attend, ministerial diaries “can change at the last minute”.Labour also criticised the government on Thursday after it emerged that ministers’ flagship “levelling-up” fund has not yet been opened to bids – despite a pledge that it would be operating six weeks ago.Levelling-up secretary Michael Gove was sacked by Boris Johnson as the prime minister sought to cling onto power last week. Councils have prepared bids for the second tranche of the levelling-up fund but have been unable to submit them because the timetable has slipped.“While Tory leadership candidates parade around Westminster doing their best Margaret Thatcher impersonations, government has ground to a halt,” said Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow levelling-up secretary.Recommended“For over a decade the Conservatives have stripped money from our communities. Now they expect those same communities to wait even longer for just a partial refund. If only they put the same effort into levelling up as they put into trying to advance their own careers. “We can no longer afford the chaos, distraction and self-indulgence of this Conservative Party. We need a fresh start with a Labour government that will deliver, and that will match the ambition that we have for ourselves and our communities.” More

Suella Braverman says she will back Liz Truss to be the new Conservative leader after being ousted in the race to succeed Boris Johnson – in a move that dramatically heightens the stakes.If Ms Braverman’s backers do likewise, the support will bring the foreign secretary within touching distance of second-placed Penny Mordaunt and boost Ms Truss’s campaign.Sources have told The Independent the attorney-general will lend her vote to the foreign secretary in the third round of the battle to be PM.Ms Braverman, who was eliminated from the race on Thursday after finishing bottom of the second ballot with 27 votes, said she made the decision after holding talks with Ms Truss.However, Ms Truss has been accused of “black ops” in a desperate fight to stay in the race.RecommendedMs Braverman singled out Ms Mordaunt for criticism, accusing her of failing to stand up for women in her apparent support of trans rights issues and of not being an “authentic Brexiteer”.Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt maintained their places at the front of the Tory leadership race, receiving 101 and 83 votes respectively, in the ballot of Tory MPs.Ms Mordaunt narrowed the gap between her and Rishi Sunak, the front runner, and also with Ms Truss in Thursday/s second round.Prominent Brexiteer Steve Baker is also expected to back the foreign secretary, who came third. “Suella has my complete loyalty. What she has decided, I will support,” he said.Separately, another leadership contender, Tom Tugendhat, said he would scrap the policy of privatising Channel 4 if he became prime minister.He told LBC radio: “I don’t think it’s a good idea – there are many other priorities.” Mr Tugendhat also said he would not scrap the BBC licence fee.RecommendedMs Truss won 64 votes, up 14, Ms Badenoch won 49, up nine, and Mr Tugendhat 32. More

Penny Mordaunt was missing in action while working with Lord Frost to such an extent that he often did not know where in the country she was, friends of the former chief Brexit negotiator have claimed.It comes as foreign secretary Liz Truss faces accusations of “black ops” in an increasingly bitter row over attacks on the trade minister in the Tory leadership contest. Leading Truss supporters, including Lord Frost, have suggested Ms Mordaunt is unfit to be prime minister.Lord Frost told Talk TV he was “quite surprised” she was in second place in the race, behind the frontrunner Rishi Sunak. “She was my deputy – notionally, more than really – in the Brexit talks last year,” he said. “I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary in the negotiations last year. She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the European Union when that was necessary.”RecommendedHe added: “She wasn’t fully accountable, she wasn’t always visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where she was. This became such a problem that, after six months, I had to ask the Prime Minister to move her on and find somebody else to support me.”Friends of Lord Frost said that it got so bad that on occassion he did not know where in the country she was. One said: “He just did not know where she was, she was missing in action. At one point they had contact once a week over Google Teams, with Ms Mordaunt’s screen turned off, meaning it was difficult to tell her location.” They added that he felt compelled to speak out because MPs who had put her in second place in the leadership race knew so little about her.Lord Frost is expected to endorse Ms Truss in the coming days.The attacks were condemned by David Davis, the former cabinet minister who is backing Ms Mordaunt. “Somebody gets ahead (in the race) and looks to be the real challenger and then the black op starts, the incoming fire starts,” Mr Davis said.Asked about what Lord Frost said on TV a source from the Mordaunt campaign said: “Penny has nothing but respect for Lord Frost. He did a huge amount to assist our negotiations until he resigned from government.  “Penny will always fight for Brexit and always has.“ RecommendedThe campaign has been approached for comment about the latest allegations. More

“It felt like more of a victory party than just another Westminster drinks,” said an attendee at the garden gathering on Wednesday evening. Still bubbling from her prime ministerial campaign launch earlier in the day, Penny Mordaunt enjoyed a glass of fizz as she chatted with supporters and posed for photographs. She was attending a Best of British-themed summer party organised by the Team Lewis Foundation in Westminster Abbey’s College Garden. Revellers also posed with people dressed as Peter Rabbit and Paddington Bear. But the star guest was the Conservative leadership contender.She had reason to celebrate: she’s gone from being branded the dark horse of the contest to a comfortable second place behind former chancellor Rishi Sunak in the race to replace Boris Johnson.As the former defence secretary moved round the guests, the high temperatures matched the high political drama. “It was full of PR types,” the same figure said, noting a throwback to Mordaunt’s background working in public relations firm Hanover, before she started her career in frontline politics.But there were also business figures and plenty of MP supporters among the aides past and present.RecommendedMordaunt came second in a vote by Conservative MPs on Wednesday, pushing Liz Truss, an early favourite into third place and snapping at the heels of frontrunner, Sunak.It is still only the first stage of combat – the parliamentary party contest – next will come the wider Tory party membership.By Thursday morning the sense of triumph had given way to redoubling campaign efforts ahead of a fresh vote, which again reinforced her second-place position.As they plotted next steps, the long hot summer of 2019 was on the mind of aides – the last time record temperatures clashed with a campaign for a new Tory leader. This was meant to be the first “normal” summer for Westminster insiders for years: with “an actual bloody holiday” free of Covid restrictions, and leadership contests – a special adviser on the campaign trail told The Independent.Some senior officials had been feeling demob happy after the relentless pressure of Partygate. One even got caught out by the sprinkler system in Whitehall Gardens, but decided to embrace being doused by the cool water, offering a little grin to passersby.But with the stakes still critically high for the next week, the focus remains on the race between second and third to see which two names will appear on the ballot for Conservative Party members.Last time, it was a fight between Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt. Gove lost, but his experience in the race may prove to be of consequence: perhaps, one former Tory election strategist said, of him again playing a crucial role in driving support towards an ultimate winner.So far, he has campaigned effectively for the relative unknown, Kemi Badenoch. And, as Badenoch’s results showed on Thursday afternoon, she has outperformed some MP’s expectations. Her tally of 49 votes means that even more will rest on how the votes will split again ahead of Monday evening’s vote.Liz Truss’s team is hopeful that a split right of the party will end up massing around her campaign, pulling in support from the Badenoch and Suella Braverman camps in order to get her towards the key yardstick of 120 votes.Still, it is a mathematical hill, if not mountain, to climb in order to get there from 64. With Braverman’s votes at 27 and Badenoch at 49, Truss – a former Remainer and long-serving cabinet minister – would need the lion share (56) of their backers, many of whom may want a fresh Brexiteer.RecommendedMeanwhile, Tom Tugendhat’s supporters might flee to either the Sunak or Mordaunt camps.Some backers expect the bigger share would go towards Mordaunt, rather than Johnson’s former chancellor.Overall, the favourites for the final two remain Mordaunt and Sunak who gathered 83 and 101 MP votes respectively on Thursday afternoon. Votes can, of course, go down as well as up. If there’s a bad performance in the TV debates, Tory MPs with slim majorities who fear their chances at the next general election might switch their allegiances.With the champagne glasses packed away for now, the outcome is still very much unknown.“It’s still very much to play for,” one Badenoch supporter said. More

The Government will press ahead with the Online Safety Bill, despite delaying the proposed legislation’s progress through Parliament until a new prime minister is in place in the autumn.Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse said the Government had made a manifesto commitment to act on the issue.But he acknowledged the Bill could face amendment amid concerns among some Tory MPs at the impact on free speech, while some campaigners want more to be done to protect children from the threat of online sexual abuse.

I haven’t heard anybody yet in the leadership or elsewhere say they want to scrap the Bill entirely although obviously, as there always is with legislation, (there will be) debates about nuance and complexityCabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse“That manifesto commitment needs to be fulfilled. Whoever is our new glorious leader, they will have to bear that in mind as they contemplate the legislation in the autumn,” Mr Malthouse told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One.Recommended“I don’t think there is a single person in either the Commons or the Lords who wants to do anything other than strengthen the protection for children online.“As normal with legislation, it will be adjusted by amendments with the Government in the driving seat so we can satisfy that manifesto commitment.“I haven’t heard anybody yet in the leadership or elsewhere say they want to scrap the Bill entirely although obviously, as there always is with legislation, (there will be) debates about nuance and complexity.”It comes after Downing Street confirmed the Bill would be delayed because of limited parliamentary time before the summer recess.The delay had sparked a row among MPs and campaigners over what should happen with the Bill.Andy Burrows, head of child safety online policy at the NSPCC, said the delay would mean “families continue to pay the price for the failure and inaction of tech firms”.In contrast, former MP Ruth Smeeth, now chief executive of the free speech campaign group Index On Censorship, said the delay was “great news” and meant the “fundamentally broken Bill” could be given a “rethink” by a new prime minister.That view has been supported by Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch, who said if elected leader she would “ensure the Bill doesn’t overreach” and that the Government “shouldn’t be legislating for hurt feelings”.But this view has received pushback from within the Conservative Party.Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who is spearheading the Bill and backing Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to be the next leader of the Tories, replied to Ms Badenoch: “Which part of the Bill legislates for hurt feelings, Kemi?”RecommendedTech minister Damian Collins – who is backing Penny Mordaunt as the next Tory leader – said Ms Badenoch was “completely wrong” on the issue.“Tell me where in this Bill there is any provision that requires the removal of legal speech. Instead, for the first time, we can set safety standards online based on our laws. Why would you want to stop that?” he asked. More

‘I have grave reservations’: Lord Frost questions Penny Mordaunt’s leadership abilitySuella Braverman has been knocked out of the Tory leadership race in the second round of voting, as Rishi Sunak topped the ballot with more than 100 backers.Penny Mordaunt increased her lead over Liz Truss, with 83 votes to the foreign secretary’s 64 – while Tom Tugendhat vowed to fight on despite receiving the backing of just 32 Conservative MPs.Lord Frost earlier launched a brutal attack on Ms Mordaunt after polling placed her as the favourite among the Tory faithful to succeed Boris Johnson, with the former Brexit minister claiming he had asked for her to be removed as his deputy during talks with the EU.Alleging that the former defence secretary “did not master the detail that was necessary” during negotiations and “wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the EU” when the situation merited it, the Conservative peer said he was now “gravely concerned”.Ms Truss will now be hoping to hoover up Ms Braverman’s support – with the results likely to amplify calls from her allies who earlier urged those supporting Kemi Badenoch to “join Liz” instead.RecommendedShow latest update

1657810161Truss ‘faces narrow path’ to final two, as Tory MPs ‘want a fresh face’Here is some reaction from journalists to the results, and what they could mean for the next stages of the race.Liz Truss faces a narrow path to make it into the last two, The Times’ political editor believes.Tom Newton-Dunn of TalkTV suggests that the dispersion of the results in today’s vote indicates that “the majority of MPs still want a fresh face”.And Stephen Bush of the Financial Times argues that “the only candidates you can say had an unalloyed good result” are Kemi Badenoch and Penny Mordaunt.Andy Gregory14 July 2022 15:491657809343Penny Mordaunt slightly increases lead over Liz Truss and picks up most new votesThe margin between Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss has seen a slight increase – with the foreign secretary coming 19 votes behind her rival in the second round.Ms Truss will be hoping to hoover up votes belonging to newly-eliminated Suella Braverman as she seeks to close the gap – which has grown from 67-50 in the first round, to 83-64 in the second.Picking up 16 new votes, Ms Mordaunt increased her vote share in the second round by more than any other candidate:Andy Gregory14 July 2022 15:351657808593Watch: Suella Braverman eliminated from raceHere is the moment that Suella Braverman was knocked out of the race:Tory leadership: Suella Braverman eliminated from race as Sunak leads in second ballotAndy Gregory14 July 2022 15:231657808525Tugendhat vows to fight on after receiving just 32 votesTom Tugendhat has insisted that his “campaign for a clean start” continues – despite him receiving just 32 votes in the second round of the leadership race.“We need trust back in our politics. I will be putting my vision for Britain forward to the public at the TV debates next week,” the foreign affairs committee chair said.Andy Gregory14 July 2022 15:221657807993Liz Truss campaign claims she is attracting support from across Tory PartyLiz Truss’s leadership election team claimed she is attracting a wide range of support from across the Tory party, as they indicted Suella Braverman’s supporters should now back the foreign secretary.“Suella Braverman ran a campaign that she can rightly be proud of,” a spokeswoman for Ms Truss said.“As Liz set out in her speech now is the time for MPs to unite behind the candidate who will cut taxes, deliver the real economic change we need, continue to deliver the benefits of Brexit and ensure Putin loses in Ukraine.“Liz Truss has the experience to deliver from day one, grow our economy and support working families and then beat Labour.”Andy Gregory14 July 2022 15:131657807529Sunak receives more than 100 votes in second round of votingOur deputy political correspondent Rob Merrick has this breaking report on the results of the second Tory leadership vote: More