It’s been a mixed performance thus far for the ‘Liz for leader’ brigade. A flawless campaign launch, strong cabinet support and enthusiastic media backing have all been positives but the failure to lock up the votes of the Tory right have left the Foreign Secretary in a less confident situation than she might otherwise have liked.
Truss’s efforts have not been helped in this respected by Kemi Badenoch, the surprise package of the leadership campaign. On the second round of voting, Truss came third with 64 MPs, ahead of Badenoch on 49. While the latter is still regarded as a long-shot candidate, there are whispers about whether the junior minister could bag enough backers from Suella Braverman, Tom Tugendhat and other undecideds to leapfrog Truss to third by Tuesday night. Stranger things have happened in Tory leadership races…
The Truss camp, wary of this threat, tried to send out Lord Frost on Thursday to persuade Badenoch to stand aside to ‘unite the right’.
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