Latest Tory leadership race live: Rishi Sunak closes in on No 10 as deadline approaches

Foreign Minister supports Rishi Sunak

The number of supporters of Rishi Sunak as the next British Prime Minister continued to grow on Monday.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverley backed Mr Sunak after Boris Johnson withdrew from the race.

London stocks jumped after Johnson’s exit

The FTSE 100 started the day up 0.5%, breaking above the 7,000 mark for the first time in a week.

The pound continued its multi-day rally, rising from a low of below $1.11 around midday on Friday to nearly 1.14 as stock markets opened after the weekend.

Meanwhile, the gold market cooled down, it became cheaper for the government to borrow money. The yield on the UK’s gilt-edged 30-year bond fell almost 0.2 percentage point to around 3.9%.

The moves follow former prime minister Boris Johnson’s decision not to enter the Tory leadership race.

Pictured: Rishi Sunak leaves home before 2:00 p.m

What’s happening today?

Rishi Sunak could be announced as the next prime minister within hours, with uncertainty over rival Penny Mordaunt’s prospects of securing 100 MP nominations.

If Ms Mordaunt does not reach that amount by 2pm on Monday or withdraws from the election, Mr Sunak will take over the leadership of the party without the need for a vote.

If she does get the numbers, MPs will decide which of the two candidates they prefer in an “indicative” vote.

Then there will be a final online poll of party members, the results of which will be tallied on Friday – unless one of the candidates withdraws.

More details here.

In the picture: the media gather outside house No. 10

Sir Roger Gale: ‘It’s important that the Tories have a choice’

Penny Mordaunt supporter Sir Roger Gale said it was important the Tories had a choice of leader between Rishi Sunak and Ms Mordaunt.

He told Sky News that Ms Mardaunt had enough nominations to go to a vote, but claimed he did not know exactly how many.

“I saw Penny 20 minutes ago and she said, ‘We’re in the zone.’

“We have a team of people now, Penny Mordaunt, Jeremy Hunt, Ben Wallace and Rishi Sunak, and I think between them, in any order, they will bring our party together and take us forward.”

Mordaunt’s figures ‘significantly exceed published figures’

Conservative MP Damian Green is confident Penny Mordaunt will reach the required number of nominations, 100, to enter the race against Rishi Sunak.

He told BBC Radio 4: “There are a lot of people who haven’t said publicly what they’re doing… Penny’s figures are already well above the published figures.

“This is certainly much, much higher than the published figure and we are confident that we will reach 100 by the 2pm deadline and prove to colleagues that Penny is the person who can best bring the party together.”

Labor accuses Sunak of ‘check evasion’

Labor deputy leader Angela Rayner said it was “no surprise” that Rishi Sunak was “evading scrutiny”.

She said Tory MPs were going to hand Mr Sunak the keys to No 10 “without saying a single word about how he would lead”.

Shaps: Sunak’s economic forecasts turned out to be “twice true”

Home Secretary and Rishi Sunak supporter Grant Shapps said Mr Sunak’s predictions about the economy had been “double-edged”.

Mr Shapps told BBC Breakfast: “We need to make sure we live within our means and get back to traditional Conservative values ​​because we are financially responsible.

“He has a clarity of message and the fact that he was right about it when he talked about it in the summer.

“He will be a great prime minister when it comes to that.”

Mr Shapps said colleagues had supported Mr Sunak “in a very big way”.

Sunak vs Mordaunt: who are the contenders?

Rishi Sunak

Former chancellor Rishi Sunak enters the race confident he has the support of enough MPs to get on the ballot.

He was defeated just seven weeks ago in the last Tory leadership race when Liz Truss emerged victorious.

He said Liz Truss’ promises of unreasonable tax cuts at a time of worsening inflation were irresponsible, dangerous and unconservative, predicting they would lead to higher mortgage rates.

Penny Mordant

House Leader Penny Mordaunt will need a tidal wave of support to reach the required 100 nominations.

She finished third in the last leadership election. She decided to back Liz Truss and was rewarded with a role in the new cabinet, taking the reins as leader of the commons.

Her lack of ministerial experience at that stage became a weakness that her rivals sought to exploit, even as she appeared to remain a popular choice among party members.