Penny Mordaunt came within 10 MPs of making the ballot against Rishi Sunak, with her allies blaming Boris Johnson for spooking Conservative MPs who told her they had no choice but to try and block his return.
Sources in Mordaunt’s campaign team showed evidence that Mordaunt had almost reached the requisite number of endorsements to face Sunak in a run-off, but admitted that support began to drain away in the final hours.
