Coffee House
Live: Braverman backs Truss
And then there were five. Suella Braverman has been knocked out of the Tory leadership contest after only receiving 27 votes in the second round ballot. She has now backed Truss. Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat remain in the contest. Sunak came top in the second round ballot with 101 votes, an increase of 13 since the first round. Penny Mordaunt is closing in on 83, followed by Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch. Tom Tugendhat only managed to achieve 32 votes in this round. The next vote takes place on Monday evening, when another candidate will be removed from the contest.
8.32pm Braverman backs Truss
James Forsyth writes... Suella Braverman is now backing Liz Truss, as is her campaign wing man Steve Baker. Given the discipline of the ERG whipping operation, this should mean that the bulk of Braverman’s 27 supporters move to Truss. Read James's full blog here.
5.07pm Podcast: Can Penny Mordaunt hack the top job?
Cindy Yu writes... The Tory briefing war continues to get underway, with David Frost launching a vicious broadside at Penny Mordaunt on talkRadio this morning. 'She wasn't fully accountable or visible. Sometimes I didn't even know where she was', Lord Frost said.
On Coffee House Shots, I speak to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth about the latest round of the leadership ballot, where Suella Braverman has been culled, and look ahead to the weekend’s two TV debates, which present a make-or-break opportunity for relatively unknown candidates like Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat.
Listen to the full episode here or below.
4.50 p.m. Will Tugendhat and Badenoch fight on?
Robert Peston writes...Tugendhat and Badenoch have both fought impressive campaigns. They were both relatively unknown before the contest and they've significantly enhanced their reputations. But they are both so far behind it would take a miracle for either of them to reach the magic 120 votes needed to enter the final run-off where members pick the leader from two chosen by MPs (Badenoch needs 71, and Tugendhat 88 - when there are at best just Braverman's 27 going begging). Read Robert's full blog here.
3.45 p.m. Tugendhat is still 'in it to win it'
Isabel Hardman writes...And what about Tom Tugendhat? He was insisting this morning that he was still in the race, and his campaign have now said that despite actually losing five votes between yesterday and today, he's 'in it to win it'. That's unlikely to put it mildly. His pitch about service has been aped to a large extent by Penny Mordaunt, whose launch was all about MPs being in public service.
3.30 p.m. How likely is Sunak to make the final round?
Katy Balls writes... Is Rishi Sunak a sure thing for the final two? The former chancellor is in the lead when it comes to MP nominations – but he is yet to hit 120, the figure required to be sure of going through to the membership round. Today he hit the three figure mark – had Sunak fallen short of this there would be talk now that he was falling below expectations. However, the issue for Sunak going through to the next round is that very few of Suella Braverman’s backers are likely to go to him. It follows that his camp could have more luck trying to win over some of Tom Tugendhat’s base – after the foreign affairs select committee chair lost votes in the second round.
3.25 p.m. The scramble for Braverman's votes begins
James Forsyth writes...The battle is now on for the 27 Braverman votes. Liz Truss needs to hoover them up; she is currently 19 votes behind Penny Mordaunt. But Kemi Badenoch will make a play for them. She put on another 9 votes and is now at 49. Her supporters will stress that she was, unlike Truss, a 2016 Brexiteer. But Truss supporters will argue that Badenoch can’t make up the ground to second and so Braverman supporters should move to her.
There are two big questions. One, how much of a stumbling bloc is Truss’s Remain past to Braverman’s supporters? Two, if they are prepared to get over that, can the formidable ERG whipping operation shift votes en masse to Truss?
It would be a bit of a surprise if anyone other than Truss and Badenoch picked up votes from Braverman. This puts Tom Tugendhat on 32 votes under pressure. But he will be hoping that the two TV debates this weekend can scramble the race.
3.18 p.m. The next few days will be pivotal for Penny Mordaunt
Katy Balls writes... Which candidate has the momentum behind them? The bookies’ favourite Penny Mordaunt won 83 MP nominations in the second ballot. That’s compared to the 67 nominations she managed in the first round. While it’s still a decent increase, there was talk among MPs that she could overtake Rishi Sunak as the frontrunner given recent polling suggesting she is a members’ favourite. Instead, the former Chancellor became the first candidate to hit three figures. The next few days will be pivotal for Mordaunt. There is not another ballot until Monday – but there are television debates between now and then. Mordaunt is one of the lesser known candidates so a good performance could win over many more backers – and a bad one increase doubts over whether she is really ready to step into 10 Downing Street.
3.15 p.m. Who will Braverman’s backers support?
Isabel Hardman writes... Where are the right wing votes now going in this contest? Liz Truss only formally launched today and has not managed to close the gap with Penny Mordaunt, who gained 16 votes to Truss's extra 14 between the first and second ballots. The momentum is with Mordaunt – and given both Truss and Kemi Badenoch are fishing in the same pool for votes, it's going to turn into an energetic fight over who is going to 'unite the right' (spoiler: each candidate thinks the others should drop out and back them instead). The drop in Suella Braverman's vote today shows that the argument about uniting behind one candidate has worked on five MPs, but it's going to take a lot more than that.
A key feature of that fight will of course be trans rights, on which Mordaunt has changed her position in a way both her rivals think is pretty cynical. Then there's Brexit purity – which harms Truss, even though she was very keen to point out her success in striking post-Brexit trade deals and her toughness on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
3.06 p.m. The battle for the right of the party heats up
Katy Balls writes... The battle to be the candidate for the right of the Tory party is heating up. In the second ballot of the contest, Suella Braverman has been knocked out with 27 MP nominations – a fall from her support in the first ballot. One Nation MP Tom Tughendat also lost votes compared to yesterday – though clings on with 32. What’s clear is that the support of MPs on the right party is splitting between Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch. Of the two, Truss leads with 64 nominations compared to 49 MP nominations for Badenoch. However, the fact that Badenoch has increased her support will encourage her supporters to fight to win Braverman’s backers – this result is unlikely to lead to one camp folding into the another.
3 p.m. Braverman out
Suella Braverman has been voted out of the Tory leadership contest. The full results below:
Rishi Sunak - 101
Pennhy Mordaunt - 83
Liz Truss - 64
Kemi Badenoch - 49
Tom Tugendhat - 32
Suella Braverman - 27
1.30 p.m. Voting has closed
Voting has closed in the second round of the Tory leadership contest, with Graham Brady announcing the results at 3 p.m. In this round, the candidate with the fewest votes will be knocked out of the contest. Suella Braverman looks to be the most vulnerable after receiving the fewest number of votes of the surviving candidates in the first ballot. Braverman has resisted stepping aside for Liz Truss or Kemi Badenoch today, insisting that 'We are in this to win it'.
1.20 p.m. Has Penny got the magic touch?
Steerpike writes… There’s lots of things to consider when electing a Tory premier. Electability, competence, leadership. But for Westminster hacks, there’s only one issue at stake: which candidate will give them the most to write about? In that regard, the lesser-known Penny Mordaunt seems a Godsend. A Royal Navy Reservist, a former Splash! contestant and an alumnus of George Bush’s second presidential campaign: there’s endless colour to fill a newspaper.
But it’s Mordaunt’s history as a former magician’s assistant that intrigued Mr S, performing the role for a spell in the 1990s. Given she is now poised for the premiership, what does the world famous Magic Circle group make of having one of their own in No. 10? Sadly, a much-coveted endorsement from the magicians is not forthcoming, with a spokesman telling Steerpike that ‘As a non political organisation we won’t take sides in the Tory leadership election. All we can say is that we hope whoever wins will have the magic touch in dealing with the countries’ issues.’ Don’t we all?
1.15 p.m. Theresa revels in Boris’s downfall
Steerpike writes... Of all those revelling in Boris Johnson's downfall last week, few probably enjoyed it more than Theresa May. It would only be natural for the former Tory PM to enjoy a little schadenfreude from Johnson's defenestration, given how his resignation and subsequent manoeuvrings played their role in destabilising her premiership. Outwardly, of course, May has remained Sphinx-like with regards to the leadership, refusing to divulge who she is backing or even say if she submitted a letter of no confidence in Johnson. But there are signs, perhaps, about her true feelings... Read the full piece here.
11.30 a.m. Truss pitches herself as continuity Boris
Katy Balls writes... The Foreign Secretary was introduced on stage by her cabinet colleague Kwasi Kwarteng who pitched her as the candidate ‘who can hit the ground running from day one’. While Truss promised a change in economic policy, it was clear from the session that she is the Johnson loyalty candidate. When asked why she hadn't resigned from Johnson's cabinet, she responded that she was loyal – a message that received cheers from supporters. Read Katy’s full analysis here.
10.15 a.m. Truss launches her leadership bid
Katy Balls writes... I’m at Liz Truss’s leadership launch in a well air-conditioned room in Westminster. The Foreign Secretary has just been introduced on stage by her cabinet colleague Kwasi Kwarteng who pitched her as the candidate ‘who can hit the ground running from day one’.
In her opening remarks Truss has pointed to the fact she went to a comprehensive as evidence that she did not come from a traditional Tory background. She says: ‘I can make tough decisions and I can get things done’. As for her priorities, she says she will keep standing up to Putin, take on the Whitehall machine and focus on economic growth.
It’s clear that the Truss camp believe what sets her out from her fellow leadership rivals on the right is her extensive cabinet experience which means she can deliver. This is the message they are making to MPs ahead of today’s ballot as they try to tell wavering MPs to consolidate the vote on the right rather than have it split three ways.
8.40 a.m. Lord Frost: Penny isn’t up to the job
Mr Steerpike writes... In an excoriating interview on TalkTV just now, Lord Frost has said he has ‘grave reservations’ about Penny Mordaunt becoming the prime minister. The former Brexit negotiator, who quit Boris Johnson’s cabinet last year, told Julia Hartley-Brewer ‘To be honest, I'm quite surprised she is where she is in this race. She was my deputy – notionally more than really – in the Brexit talks last year’. Watch the full clip here.
8.20 a.m. Who’s through – and who do the members like?
Gus Carter writes... Good morning. There are still half a dozen candidates in this race; by 3 p.m. this afternoon at least one will have been eliminated. Here are the results from last night’s vote as well as the Times/YouGov poll of party members on who they want to be the next PM.