LONDON (AFP/Reuters) – British Conservative leadership rivals Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak held talks late into the night, reports said Sunday, as the feuding political heavyweights battle behind the scenes to lead their fractured ruling party.
Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak announced his bid to replace Liz Truss as the next leader of the Conservative Party, putting him on track to make it to the final round of candidates in the race for prime minister.
“I want to fix our economy, unite our Party and deliver for our country,” he said in a Sunday tweet.
Amid increasing acrimony within the splintered Tories, cabinet member Penny Mordaunt insisted she is the MP able to bring the party together.
“I think I’m best placed to unite our party,” the 49-year-old told the BBC, adding she was “the halfway house” between Sunak and Truss in the last leadership contest which only concluded seven weeks ago.
Mordaunt narrowly missed out on making the run-off, falling short by eight MPs’ votes.
Former prime minister Johnson and ex-finance minister Sunak are said to be intensely lobbying Conservative colleagues ahead of a Monday deadline to secure the 100 nominations required to face a vote by Tory MPs.
Sunak has raced ahead, with the 42-year-old crossing that threshold Friday and currently boasting the public backing of 129 Tory lawmakers, according to a BBC tally.
That compares to Johnson’s 53 and 23 for Mordaunt, though the ex-leader’s allies insist he has already amassed the 100 nominations.
“We’ve got the numbers,” Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris reiterated Sunday, telling Sky News the ex-premier was “keen to see what the parliamentary party thinks”.
It is the second time in less than four months that Sunak, 42, has vied for the role. Over the summer, the former chancellor of the exchequer made it to the final round in the race to succeed Boris Johnson before losing to Truss when the vote was put to party members.