LIVE: Tory leadership rivals battle for votes in race to Number 10
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is setting out her stall as she officially launches her campaign.
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Your support makes all the difference.Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak came out on top in the first round of voting in the Tory leadership contest, with trade minister Penny Mordaunt in second place and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in third.
The other candidates that remain in the contest are equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, MP Tom Tugendhat and Attorney General Suella Braverman.
A second vote by Tory MPs takes place later on Thursday, and the last-placed candidate will be eliminated.
Here is the latest in the Tory leadership race:
10am
Allies of Liz Truss went on the attack against her leadership rival Penny Mordaunt, seizing on scathing comments on the trade minister from former Brexit minister Lord Frost.
He claimed on TalkTV that Ms Mordaunt – his deputy in Brexit talks last year – “did not master the detail that was necessary in the negotiations”, and “wouldn’t always deliver the tough messages” to the EU when they were required.
Lord Frost said he would therefore have “grave reservations” about whether Ms Mordaunt is fit to be the next prime minister.
The Truss campaign claimed Lord Frost’s warning “is a really serious one”, with Treasury Chief Secretary Simon Clarke adding: “Conservatives – and far more importantly our country – need a leader who is tested and ready.”