Is the Tory leadership race already over? That’s the narrative among Conservative MPs with two weeks of the leadership contest to go. The Sunak camp dispute this version of events – and tonight they have an endorsement which works in their favour.
After several Tory MPs switched their allegiance from Rishi Sunak to Liz Truss, this evening Michael Gove has endorsed the former Chancellor. Writing for the Times, the former Minister for the Cabinet Office has argued Truss’s plans for immediate tax cuts are a ‘holiday from reality’ that would put ‘the stock options of FTSE 100 executives’ before the poorest.
He says that Sunak is best placed to prioritise the most vulnerable. A pitch for a job? Unlikely. Given the latest leadership polls give Truss a lead of more than 30 points, any endorsement of Sunak at this point can hardly be described as careerist. Instead Gove says he does not expect to be in government again. It’s worth noting – as I reported in the magazine this week – that Team Truss would be unlikely to give him a job.
Truss and Gove had several cabinet disputes under Boris Johnson, particularly regarding trade. What’s more, his decision to back Kemi Badenoch early on in the race was viewed with suspicion by the Truss camp. Supporters of Truss speculated that it was an attempt to split the right of the party, thereby helping Sunak’s attempt to be leader.
Will the endorsement make a difference? Both Gove and the Sunak camp question the polls and insist he can still win. At the very least, this endorsement points to how hard it will be to unite the party when this contest comes to a close.
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