James Heale James Heale

Will Penny do better than last time?

In July she showed she could get 100 MPs

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

This afternoon Penny Mordaunt became the first candidate to publicly declare themselves for the leadership of the Conservative party. Much of the talk in this contest has been about the ‘death match’ between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, both of whom are a known quantity in Westminster circles. Mordaunt’s confirmed entry into the race changes the dynamics of the contest and offers her colleagues a different choice. She is something of an outsider – having only held a senior cabinet post for less than three months in 2019 – and was never someone in the inner counsels of the Cameron, May, Johnson or Truss premierships.

The threshold of 100 nominations on Monday is a steep one and Mordaunt is currently well behind Sunak and Johnson in the number of confirmed public backers. Yet there are still some likely supporters who have not yet declared, with several vocal supporters in private currently keeping their powder dry.

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