Tory leadership race: Candidates accuse each other of dishonesty and dirty tricks

Candidates for the Conservative leadership have accused one another of dishonesty and dirty tricks, and trashed their own government’s reputation in a combative and sometimes bitter televised debate. The 60-minute debate on ITV was more personal and aggressive than the first debate of the contest last Friday.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss charged former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak with leading Britain into recession with tax rises she said she opposed in cabinet. Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch and trade minister Penny Mordaunt accused one another of lying over their part in shaping government policy on transgender rights.

Mr Sunak accused Ms Truss and other candidates of taking a more cavalier approach to the public finances than Keir Starmer or Jeremy Corbyn.

“We have to also recognise that we just went through a once-in-a-century pandemic with all the damage it did to the economy. I’d love to stand here and say ‘I’ll cut this tax, that tax, and another tax’, and say it will all be okay but you know what? It won’t. This something for nothing economics isn’t conservative, it’s socialism,” he said.

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The candidates also turned on Boris Johnson, with all of them saying they would not allow him to return to government as a cabinet minister. Foreign affairs committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said there had been a crisis of trust and a collapse of confidence under Mr Johnson, suggesting that the other candidates were tainted by association with the prime minister.

The leadership contest is a two-stage process with Conservative MPs voting in a series of ballots to select a shortlist of two to go before the entire party membership.

The second round of voting among MPs on Thursday left Mr Sunak in front with 101 votes, followed by Ms Mordaunt on 83 and Ms Truss on 64. Ms Badenoch received 49 votes and Mr Tugendhat 32, while attorney general Suella Braverman was eliminated.

Mr Tugendhat was hailed as the surprise winner of last Friday’s debate on Channel 4 but his performance on Sunday was more muted. Mr Sunak was the target for attack from other candidates but he dominated Sunday’s debate, as he did on Friday, showing greater ease in discussing policy detail especially on the economy.

Ms Truss, universally identified as the loser on Friday, was more assertive on Sunday and she sought to make a virtue of her wooden presentational style. “I might not be the slickest presenter on this stage but I think my colleagues understand in parliament when I work with them that when I say I’ll do something I’ll do it.”

There will be a third round of voting among MPs on Monday, after which the candidate who wins the fewest votes will be eliminated and further rounds are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. The two candidates who make the final cut will face off in hustings around the country ahead of a ballot of party members and the winner will be announced on September 5th.

A Conservative Home survey of party members on Saturday saw Ms Badenoch surge into first place on 31 per cent, with Ms Truss on 20 per cent, and Ms Mordaunt on 18 per cent. Mr Sunak was on 17 per cent and Mr Tugendhat trailed the field on 10 per cent.

But when candidates were presented in run-offs against one another, Mr Sunak defeated Ms Mordaunt by 43 per cent to 41 per cent. Ms Truss defeated Ms Mordaunt by 48 per cent to 41 per cent and Mr Sunak by 49 per cent to 42 per cent.

This represented a weakening over the past week of Ms Truss’s position relative to Mr Sunak, who has seen his support among party members grow as he remains the frontrunner among MPs.