Rishi Sunak ‘passes 100 Tory MP threshold’ as he races to secure majority
Rishi Sunak became the first Tory leadership candidate to secure the backing of 100 MPs on Friday night as Boris Johnson’s supporters began warning of a stitch-up.
The former chancellor reached the threshold around 10pm, according to a campaign source, meaning he will be on the ballot for Monday’s vote. His team now wants the endorsement of a majority of Tory MPs.
Earlier, Mr Johnson was ringing Conservative MPs from the Dominican Republic, in a sign of how seriously he is pursuing a comeback, as allies demanded that Tory members be given a chance to vote.
The Telegraph can reveal that Kemi Badenoch, the International Trade Secretary, and Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, are considering backing Mr Johnson, in what would be a major boost that could unify the party’s Right.
There are just a little over 48 hours left in the rapid race for nominations to replace Liz Truss as prime minister, with the backroom dealing and horse trading set to intensify before Monday’s 2pm deadline.
On Friday night, Mr Sunak had secured the public backing of 97 Tory MPs, with Mr Johnson second on 52 MPs and Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the Commons, on 22.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson won the backing of Cabinet ministers, with Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, then Simon Clarke, the Communities Secretary, publicly endorsing him.
Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley mayor who backed Mr Sunak in the last contest, also declared support for the former prime minister.
Mr Sunak also picked up big-name backers, with Sajid Javid, the former health secretary and chancellor, issuing his support on Twitter:
However, both candidates remained silent in public – more than 24 hours after Ms Truss resigned – with speculation about the roles each could offer the other to step back.
Mr Johnson could arrive back in the UK as early as Saturday. Mr Sunak, who is doing back-to-back conversations with MPs in London, is set to declare this weekend.
Under the current rules, only candidates who can secure the nomination of 100 Tory MPs – out of roughly 360 available – can make it into the MP voting round.
Mr Johnson faces a battle to reach the threshold, with supporters claiming he is on course to make it. However, critics have privately questioned whether he has the breadth of backing.
If only one candidate is left standing, then the online Tory membership vote due to happen next week, with a winner announced next Friday, will not take place.
The rules were agreed by the 1922 Committee and the Conservative Party board on Thursday, but are becoming a target for criticism from Mr Johnson’s backers.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Business Secretary who is running Mr Johnson’s campaign, talked up the need for the members to have their say.
He told The Telegraph: “I’m always in favour of the members deciding the leadership – I think it is the right place for it to go. And I think the 1922 Committee and the board of [the] Tory Party have done really well to get it to a position where that can be done swiftly. I’m in favour of it going to the membership.”
Sir Jake Berry, who was previously a major supporter of Mr Johnson but is now overseeing the race in an impartial capacity, also said he hoped that party members would get a say.
The Tory Party chairman told The Telegraph: “This is an existential crisis for the future of the Conservative Party. As the oldest and most successful political party in history, we need to decide whether we believe in democracy or not.
“If we believe in democracy, members cannot be denied a say on who the next leader of the party is.
“We have seen two prime ministers in a row effectively removed from office by MPs despite the fact that they have won the membership. I fear that it might be a point where members think ‘What is really the point of being a member of the Conservative Party?’”
There is a political rationale for Johnson supporters to want a members’ vote. Polls throughout the year have indicated he retained a higher degree of support among the membership base than among Tory MPs, who ousted him in July.
However, Mr Sunak’s backers are rejecting the idea that a membership vote should be held even if Mr Johnson fails to gain the support of 100 Tory MPs.
“The rules have been set out by Sir Graham Brady [the 1922 Committee chairman] and Jake Berry. That is what will happen,” said a supporter of Mr Sunak.
There is widespread speculation among backers of both candidates that Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson could strike some kind of deal.
Mr Sunak is expected to reject any offer of a Cabinet role during the leadership race, given he is the front-runner and has resigned from a Johnson government once already this year.
But no categorical statement of rejection has been issued, leaving open a job acceptance if Mr Johnson does indeed triumph.
Mr Sunak is being urged to offer Mr Johnson a Cabinet role, such as home secretary, to agree to get him to stand back ahead of any voting with members.
Sir James Duddridge, an ally of Mr Johnson and his former parliamentary private secretary, has claimed that the former prime minister is “up for” another run at the Tory leadership.
Speaking to Sky News, he said that Mr Johnson told him: “I’m going to do it, Dudders!”
But Lord Hague of Richmond, the former Tory leader who urged Mr Johnson to resign in July, warned that the Tories risked a “death spiral” if they brought back Boris Johnson.
“Him returning is the ‘solution’? That would be going round in circles and that could become a death spiral of the Conservative Party,” he said.
“And I think it’s possibly the worst idea I’ve heard of in the 46 years I’ve been a member of the Conservative Party.”
Mel Stride, the Tory MP who is helping to run Mr Sunak’s campaign, has outlined the case for putting the former chancellor in Number 10.
Writing for The Telegraph, he said: “Rishi Sunak is the best person to fix the problems we face. As a party and a country, we have faced too much turbulence. We can’t afford to go backwards, we have to move forward. Rishi will fix the economy and unite the Conservative Party so that we can deliver for all people across the United Kingdom and win the next General Election.
“From Thatcher to Cameron, it is the Conservatives that have come in and fixed the mess Labour always leaves behind. Our voters, and generations to come, will not forgive us if at this deeply important moment we choose someone who cannot deliver the very best governance the country needs and deserves.”
Ms Mordaunt became the first candidate to declare on Friday, posting on Twitter:
It is understood that Mr Johnson is more likely to endorse Mr Sunak than back Ms Mordaunt if he fails to get the 100 Tory MP votes needed, though no final decision has been taken.
Elsewhere, Mrs Braverman and Mrs Badenoch have not ruled themselves out of the race, but are discussing a joint declaration for Mr Johnson, which would be a major boost to his campaign.
Both ran in the summer leadership race, but struggled to gain support now the threshold for entry has been raised from 20 Tory MPs to 100.
Mr Wallace, a long-time ally of Mr Johnson, did not categorically endorse the former prime minister but said that he was “leaning towards” him.
He told broadcasters: “This will be potentially our third prime minister since the general election of 2019 – that means we have to think about that legitimacy question that the public will be asking themselves, and also about who could win the next election – that’s obviously important for any political party at the time.”
Mr Javid said in his endorsement of Mr Sunak that he has the “values our party needs” to help them “move on from the mistakes of the past”.
‘Time for serious, competent, values-based governance’
Johnny Mercer, the former veterans minister, also backed Mr Sunak, arguing constituents should not be put through another Johnson government after the “terrible” lows last time around.
He told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: “Boris is a friend of mine, I love him to bits, he’s a great guy, but I just don’t think I can put myself through that again. I don’t think I can ask my constituents to, I don’t think I can ask my staff.
“I love Boris to bits, and he’s got amazing qualities for this country. But it is now time for serious, competent, straight-forward and values-based governance.”
