Penny Mordaunt – ‘I’m not being drawn into the detail’
Penny Mordaunt found herself in an awkward position this morning as she faced off against Laura Kuenssberg. With a lot of ground to make up before nominations close for the Conservative party leadership on Monday, Mordaunt’s interview could well serve as a crucial moment in the success or failure of her campaign. Kuenssberg repeatedly asked her for some (indeed, any) details on spending pledges, but unfortunately her answers proved to be light on content:
Steve Baker – Boris Johnson would be ‘a guaranteed disaster’
Meanwhile, if Boris Johnson thought that MPs would be rolling out the red carpet for him as he raced back from his holiday in the Dominican Republic, he had another thing coming. The contest is still very much open, and the former Prime Minister appears to be trailing his former Chancellor for nominations, of which he would need 100 to go forward to a ballot of party members. Steve Baker, the Northern Ireland minister whose time at the head of the European Research Group has assured his enduring influence, explained to Sophy Ridge why he was endorsing Rishi Sunak over Boris:
Eurosceptics may ‘implode the government’ over Northern Ireland policy
Baker also stressed that maintaining the government’s current policy towards the Northern Ireland Protocol was of critical importance to his wing of the Conservative party, and threatened to put the next leader in the same place as Liz Truss if things changed:
Jacob Rees-Mogg – Boris made ‘fundamental achievements’
The former Prime Minister still has some stalwarts in his camp, one of whom is the Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg. Kuenssberg challenged Rees-Mogg to put the case for Boris V2:
Keir Starmer – There will be ‘tough choices’ on taxes and spending
The Labour leader Keir Starmer also made an appearance, telling Kuenssberg that future Labour voters should not expect a land of milk and honey if Labour prove the pollsters right:
Comments