It will be a leadership contest between Liz Truss and 'the grown up in the room' Rishi Sunak, predicts former Tory MP Matthew Parris. Read more: ShelaghFogarty
Hours before the nominations for Tory leadership contenders closed, Mr Sunak appeared well ahead as rival Liz Truss tried to rally the right with the backing of Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Mr Raab gave his backing to Mr Sunak to be next Tory leader, and therefore prime minister, at Mr Sunak's official campaign launch. "While that may be politically inconvenient for me, it is also the truth. As is the fact that once we've gripped inflation, I will get the tax burden down. It is a question of when, not if."
Ms Dorries said Ms Truss, who voted Remain in the 2016 referendum, is probably a "stronger Brexiteer than both of us" and has "consistently argued for low tax policies". By Tuesday morning, Mr Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat look to already have the declared backers to make the threshold. Mr Sunak - who has the most declarations of support so far - is alone among the contenders to succeed Mr Johnson in not promising immediate tax cuts if he wins.
"We need a return to traditional Conservative economic values - and that means honesty and responsibility, not fairytales," he will say.
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