LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Before the first MP vote in the race for No. 10 today, Tory leadership aspirants are vying for the support of their peers.
To continue competing for the position of prime minister, each of the eight candidates who have made it to the ballot must receive at least 30 votes.
It is the first of several secret ballots that will be cast over the following few days to narrow the field to the final two.
It occurs as Penny Mordaunt begins her bid for the leadership.
She is running for office alongside Jeremy Hunt, Kemi Badenoch, Liz Truss, Nadhim Zahawi, Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman and Tom Tugendhat all of whom have received the necessary 20 nominations from Conservative MPs to enter in the first round.
Trade Minister Ms. Mordaunt promised to lower the fuel tax and raise income tax levels as the hunt for votes picks up.
In laying out her case at a sweltering, crowded launch event, she also pledged to give MPs authority over “social capital pots” to spend on their local regions and promised parents more flexibility about subsidised daycare.
She positioned herself as a team player and promised to appoint a “tighter” cabinet of ministers with authority over all of Whitehall if elected.
She also pledged to restore to the ideas of “small state, low tax, and personal responsibility,” claiming that the Conservative Party has “lost its sense of self.”
Sajid Javid, a former secretary of health, and Rehman Chishti, a junior minister, have left the race after they were unsuccessful in gathering enough support.
The 30 vote criterion, which was designed to quickly restrict the field, may eliminate a number of additional contenders.
Voting for the ballot on Wednesday will begin at 13:30, and the results are anticipated at 17:00 BST.
In addition, candidates will participate in two additional hustings events as the competition for endorsements intensifies.
This happened as:
- Mr. Sunak, former chancellor who enjoys the strongest support of Tory MPs, also received backing from Grant Shapps and Dominic Raab.
- Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg, both supporters of Johnson, endorsed Foreign Secretary Ms. Truss.
- Ms. Dorries alleged that Mr. Sunak’s team lent nominations to ensure his inclusion on the ballot, but Mr. Hunt’s campaign denied this.
- Mr. Hunt, the former foreign secretary, said he was “quietly confident” he would pass the first round of voting despite not having a launch event.
As of now, the campaign has exposed the differences among Tories on taxation, with some candidates criticising the increase in taxes under Mr. Sunak’s chancellorship.
With the exception of Mr. Sunak, who argues tax cuts should wait until inflation decreases, all of the candidates promise to enact immediate tax reductions if they win.
There are differences of opinion among those pledging to cut taxes over which taxes should be cut and how quickly.
In a Daily Telegraph interview, Mr. Sunak stated that handling inflation was his “number one economic priority” and that Margaret Thatcher, a legendary figure on the right of the party, would have supported his strategy.
However, Mr. Rees-Mogg, one of Ms. Truss’s supporters, criticised his performance at the Treasury, saying Sky News that the “tax-increasing chancellor” had taken decisions “on the left rather than on the right.”
Additionally, he attempted to discredit Leave-voting Mr. Sunak’s support for Brexit by labelling him a “ostensible Brexiteer” whose department had fought abolishing the “supremacy of EU law” during his time of service.
