Liz Truss’s hopes of replacing Boris Johnson as prime minister have taken a big step forward as rival Penny Mordaunt’s leadership bid stalled and a poll suggested the foreign secretary would comfortably beat MPs’ favourite Rishi Sunak in the final ballot of Tory members.
Both the Truss and Mordaunt camps were love-bombing defeated contender Kemi Badenoch, whose elimination in the fourth round of voting put her in the position of kingmaker.
