Penny Mordaunt confirms she is standing in the Conservative leadership contest to replace Liz Truss as prime minister Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons, is the first candidate to officially enter the raceEx-chancellor Rishi Sunak and former PM Boris Johnson have both secured the backing of some Tory MPs but neither has confirmed a run Johnson has the support of cabinet ministers Simon Clarke and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Earlier Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he was “leaning” towards backing Johnson
But he also said he was keen to hear what Sunak had to say on defence.
Leadership hopefuls have until 14:00 on Monday to gather the support of 100 MPs, with a new PM declared by Friday.
Labour and other opposition parties have called for an immediate general election.
The chairman of Liz Truss’s local Conservative association has voiced concern that around 20% of his local membership won’t get the chance to vote because they’re not on email.
