Penny Mordaunt launches leadership bid

We have the first declared candidate of this Tory leadership contest. Penny Mordaunt has just taken to Twitter to announce she is running.

Given that Mordaunt got more than 100 votes in the final parliamentary round, she has a pretty good chance of making the 100 nominations threshold. Now we wait to see if there is now a big push from her team to get more supporters to go public (you can keep tabs on those numbers here).

I’ve been encouraged by support from colleagues who want a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest.

I’m running to be the leader of the Conservative Party and your Prime Minister – to unite our country, deliver our pledges and win the next GE.#PM4PM pic.twitter.com/MM0NTHJ5lH

— Penny Mordaunt (@PennyMordaunt) October 21, 2022

The biggest question at the moment is over whether Boris Johnson runs or not. As a former prime minister, he has the most to lose by saying he’s running – and there are those convinced that once Johnson has demonstrated his continued appeal within the party he will decide not to run.