Conservative leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt was accused by her rivals of misleading the public during a feisty TV debate, as she claimed polling showed that only she could win the next general election.
All four of the other candidates pushed back immediately against her assertion – crying out that it was “not true” to say polling showed she alone could triumph against Keir Starmer’s Labour party.
Ms Mordaunt told the ITV debate: “I think there’s a couple of things we need in order to win the next general election – one of them is me as the prime minister.”
The trade minister added: “Because the polling shows that I’m the only one that can beat Keir Starmer and take the fight to Labour … I beat him all over the country.”
Her astonished rivals all denied the truth of her claim, with former chancellor Rishi Sunak heard shouting: “Penny that’s completely not true! Not true.”
Tom Tugendhat, the moderate candidate who has won the backing of many red wall MPs, laughed and said: “Penny, I respect you deeply, but that’s just not true.”
The ex-chancellor also lashed out at Ms Mordaunt after she said tax cuts could be paid for by easing fiscal rules so government borrowing could fund day-to-day spending.
“It’s not just wrong, it’s dangerous,” said Mr Sunak. “You know what? Even Jeremy Corbyn didn’t suggest that we should go that far … If we’re not for sound money, what is the point of the Conservative Party?”
Ms Mordaunt – only second to Mr Sunak in the push to make it to the final two after the second ballot of MPs – also warned her rivals to not indulge in “smears” following fresh claims about her views on transgender issues.
The Sunday Times said it had seen government papers which appeared to suggest Ms Mordaunt was in favour of removing at least one element of the medical process required for transgender people to legally transition.
But Ms Mordaunt told the BBC that she had never advocated ending the requirement for trans people to obtain a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria before they could legally change gender.
Tory rival Kemi Badenoch claimed that she had been responsible for reversing a policy on transgender people after Ms Mordaunt had left her position as equalities minister. “Why was the policy what is was?” she asked.
The trade minister fired back: “This whole thing is unedifying. I would say to all four of my colleagues – I know why this is being done. All attempts to paint me as an out of touch individual will fail.”
Ms Mordaunt also described her own bombastic campaign video as “legendary” during the angry debate on Sunday night. “My now legendary campaign video did not feature me at all,” she claimed – despite the fact her voiceover closes the video clip.
Earlier on Sunday, Ms Mordaunt repeated her notorious claim from the 2016 Brexit referendum that the UK was unable to stop Turkey joining the EU – insisting the veto would not have been used.
Appearing on the BBC Sunday Morning programme, she was accused of ignoring “actual facts” that the EU treaty granted a block on new members.
Confronted with an interview from the 2016 Brexit referendum – when the Leave campaign was seeking to stir up alarm about migrants from Turkey – Ms Mordaunt replied: “The clip says it as I see it.”
