Rishi Sunak is the firm favorite to replace Liz Truss as UK prime minister and could be declared the new Conservative Party leader as early as this afternoon
House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt is still in the contest and racing to secure 100 MP backers by the 2pm deadline
But Sunak is well ahead – with the support of more than half of MPs – while she has fewer than 30 supporters who have confirmed their backing publicly
Key backers of Boris Johnson – who dropped out of the contest on Sunday evening – are calling for the party to get behind the former chancellor
They include ex-home secretary Priti Patel and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly
Johnson claimed he had reached the support needed to stand but said it would not be “the right thing to do” He’s since been praised by both Sunak and Mordaunt Labour have reiterated their call for a general election, as have the Scottish National Party
