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Braverman out, Sunak still ahead in Tory leadership contest

Sunak said he would not cut taxes to win an election, somehow hinting Truss and not Mordaunt is the rival to beat at the end of the day

Attorney General Suella Braverman Thursday crashed out of the Conservative leadership race and will reportedly support Foreign Secretary Liz Truss' bid to become Boris Johnson's successor as UK Prime Minister after former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Trade Secretary Penny Mordaunt strengthened their advantage in the Conservative Party leadership contest.

Sunak rose to 101 votes from 88 in the first round, followed by Mordaunt's 83 votes from 67 Wednesday. Former Ministers Jeremy Hunt (Health) and Nadhim Zahawi (Finance) had already been ousted Wednesday.

Braverman joined them Thursday.

Truss came in third with 64 votes, followed by former Minister of Equality Kemi Badenoch (49 votes) and MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, who barely made it past the 30-vote cut with 32.

Once the number of contenders is shortlisted to 2, it will be up to the some 200,000 members of the Conservative Party to choose the next head of government.

Truss once again insisted that if she becomes Prime Minister she would cut taxes from “day one,” while Mordaunt insisted Defence would be her administration's top priority. Writing for the Daily Mail, Mordaunt promised to honor the UK’s NATO commitments. “The defence of the realm is the first duty of any government,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, supporters of Braverman and Badenoch have been urged to line up behind Truss, “because a lot of their policies are in a very similar direction, about having a free economy, about making sure that we stand up for the United Kingdom. and be proud for our country and indeed having that more focus on aspects of delivery, but a different approach slightly on how we tackle economic issues,” according to Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey.

In Wednesday's first round, Truss garnered 50 votes, Badenoch 40, and Braverman 32. If all three are combined, they would challenge Sunak's apparent invincibility and leave the lesser-known Mordaunt out of the runoff.

Mental Health Minister Gillian Keegan, known to support Sunak, highlighted the fact that the former chancellor had received the backing of a quarter of the Tory Party’s MPs in the first round of voting for a new leader. “A quarter of the parliamentary party when you’ve got eight candidates? That’s pretty good I think - my maths says that’s pretty good,” she told Sky News. “Rishi has got a very strong following” because “serious times need serious people,” she added. Keegan also downplayed a YouGov poll suggesting Mordaunt would comfortably beat Sunak if the two went head-to-head in the final stage.

Sunak's wealth has been pointed out as a possible impairment to make him a suitable Prime Minister at a time when people are struggling with their finances. “I don’t judge people by their bank accounts, I judge them by their character, and I think they can judge me by my actions over the past couple of years,” he argued.

His resignation sparked Boris Johnson's fall from grace. When other officials followed suit, the Prime Minister announced his resignation, but said he would stay on the job on a caretaker basis until a replacement is found.

“I think our number one economic priority is to tackle inflation and not make it worse. Inflation is the enemy, it makes everybody poorer, and if we don't act to tackle inflation now it will cost families more in the long run, especially with mortgages. I will get taxes down in this Parliament, but I'm going to do so responsibly,” Sunak said in a radio interview.