London:
Rishi Sunak’s campaign to be elected Conservative Party leader and next British Prime Minister took a hit on Saturday when a former candidate backed his rival Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Tom Tugendhat, the Tory backseat and chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee who was first shortlisted before being knocked out of the race earlier this month, said he favored Truss’ campaign pitch with its promise of immediate tax cuts.
The former British Army soldier said after watching the candidates compete in live TV debates, “only one has convinced me she’s ready”.
“Liz has always stood up for British values at home and abroad. With her at the helm, I have no doubt that we will act with determination to make this country safer and safer,” he writes in The Times newspaper.
He said both contenders have “enormous qualities and many talents”, but Truss has an advantage on the world stage because of her cabinet position.
“As foreign minister, Liz starts with a huge head start. She can make our vote count,” he writes.
It follows the endorsement of another Tory heavyweight Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who also lent his support to Liz Truss – describing her as “authentic, honest and experienced”.
Rishi Sunak was initially the frontrunner in the ballot box of his party colleagues and received the most support from MPs in the first few ballots. But since then, polls of Tory members who will vote for the winner show that Truss is more popular.
According to another report in ‘The Times’, even Rishi Sunak’s former boss feels sorry for him.
He told friends he didn’t think Rishi Sunak, the man he blames for his downfall, would make it.
“He almost feels sorry for him,” said a friend of Boris Johnson.
“[Rishi] entered a mob of malcontents who used him as part of their vendetta against Boris. What future is there for him now?”
The two finalists will then face off in the TV debate on Thursday, when the first ballots will land by mail at the addresses of Tory members.
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