London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Tory leadership: Mordaunt out as Sunak and Truss in run-off to be next PM

Tory leadership: Mordaunt out as Sunak and Truss in run-off to be next PM

Rishi Sunak will face Liz Truss in the race to be the next prime minister, after Penny Mordaunt was eliminated in the latest Tory leadership ballot.

Ms Truss overturned Ms Mordaunt's narrow lead in the final vote among Tory MPs, securing a place in the run-off by 113 votes to 105.

She will now go head-to-head with Mr Sunak, who topped the final ballot with 137 votes.

The winner will be decided by a vote among Conservative party members.

Foreign Secretary Ms Truss secured her place after a late surge in support, picking up 27 votes in the 24 hours since the last round whilst Ms Mordaunt only gained 13.

The two had been scrambling to secure the backing of MPs who had backed Kemi Badenoch, who was knocked out in Tuesday's vote.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, a Truss supporter, said her campaign had "come with momentum at the end".

He added that her stance on post-Brexit regulatory reforms and plans to help those on low incomes had convinced colleagues to back her.

The campaign for Mr Sunak, the former chancellor, said his 137 votes were a "really strong result with a clear mandate from MPs".

Speaking to broadcasters, he said he was "humbled" to be in the final two, and said he was best-placed to "beat Keir Starmer at the next election".


Trade Minister Ms Mordaunt ran a campaign emphasising her support for Brexit and her ability to win Labour-held seats for the Tories.

Although she briefly served in Theresa May's cabinet, she has only held more junior positions under Mr Johnson and has boosted her profile considerably having started as one of the lesser-known candidates.

Tory MP George Freeman, one of her supporters, said she had come "from nowhere to fight a great campaign".

"We have lit a flame she is not going away," he added.

Mr Sunak, who quit as part of the cabinet mutiny against Boris Johnson, has repeatedly clashed with Ms Truss over economic policy during the leadership campaign.

Ms Truss has promised to introduce £38bn of tax cuts if she wins power, including scrapping April's rise in National Insurance, introduced by the government whilst Mr Sunak was still at the Treasury.

She has also pledged to cancel planned corporation tax rises from April 2023, which Mr Sunak announced in March last year.

But Mr Sunak has rubbished her proposals, saying the tax rises are needed to repair the public finances after Covid and accusing her of peddling "something-for-nothing economics".

He has said he wants to lower the tax burden, but this should only be done when inflation, currently running at its highest level for 40 years, has been brought under control.

Before Ms Mordaunt was knocked out, Sir Keir Starmer criticised the remaining contenders for making "unfunded" tax pledges worth billions of pounds.

Speaking at Boris Johnson's final Prime Minister's Questions, the Labour leader also said the leadership rivals had not had a "single decent thing to say" about the current government's record.

"I think the message coming out of this leadership contest is pretty clear - they got us into this mess, and they've no idea how to get us out of it," he added.

Although Mr Sunak has come first in all the voting rounds among Tory MPs, surveys have suggested he may struggle to maintain his advantage among members.

A YouGov survey of 725 party members on Monday and Tuesday suggested Mr Sunak would lose to either Ms Mordaunt or Ms Truss in a head-to-head.

The poll had Ms Mordaunt beating Mr Sunak by 51% to 37% and Ms Truss beating him by 54% to 35%.

A dozen regional hustings for members will take place between 28 July and 31 August, beginning in Leeds. Before that, Ms Truss and Mr Sunak will also go head-to-head during a live debate on BBC One next Monday.

The pair declined to take part in a live debate on Sky News earlier this week, leading to its cancellation, but have now agreed to take part in a debate hosted by the broadcaster on 4 August.

The roughly 160,000 Conservative members will then vote by post or online between early August and 2 September, with a winner announced on 5 September.


Rishi Sunak: I want to be honest about challenges we face

I've run a positive campaign, says Liz Truss


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×