The vast majority of voters across the UK would not have been able to tell you who Penny Mordaunt was until this week. Despite her position in the Tory leadership contest, she remains an unknown quantity to most people.
They couldn’t pick her out of a line-up even if offered a cash prize. This anonymity serves a political purpose, however. Mordaunt is a blank canvas on which Conservative party members can paint whatever they want.
It also helps that she is not Rishi Sunak. Many Tories cannot stand the thought of the former Chancellor becoming Prime Minister.
