Rishi Sunak will be the next Prime Minister after his only opponent in the Conservative Party leadership contest pulled out. Former Chancellor Mr Sunak had commanded the public support of more than half of the parliamentary party.
That meant he was guaranteed to be on the ballot for a vote of the party membership. However, his only remaining opponent following Boris Johnson's confirmation on Sunday night that he would not run, Penny Mordaunt, pulled out on Monday afternoon. She did so minutes before the 2pm deadline for nominations, with candidates needing the backing of 100 Tory MPs to progress.
Ms Mordaunt said Rishi Sunak had her "full support" as she dropped out of the contest.
She said: "These are unprecedented times. Despite the compressed timetable for the leadership contest it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today. They have taken this decision in good faith for the good of the country.
"Members should know that this proposition has been fairly and thoroughly tested by the agreed 1922 process. As a result, we have now chosen our next Prime Minister."
With a little over two hours to spare, Ms Mordaunt's campaign claimed to have received the support of at least 90 Conservative MPs and urged others to back her so party members could have their say. The Commons Leader would have faced Mr Sunak in an online ballot if she had reached the threshold, with the result announced on Friday.
A Government source said Mr Sunak, who lost to Ms Truss in the last contest just seven weeks ago, could become Prime Minister later on Monday, though Tuesday is seen as more likely. Ms Mordaunt's campaign allies had insisted they were "confident" she would reach the threshold and claimed she had a far higher tally than the declarations of support that had been made public.
A campaign source said: "We have now passed 90. For the sake of the party, it's important our members have their say."
But Mordaunt-supporting former minister George Freeman urged her to end her campaign and join with Mr Sunak "given the need for Conservative stability and unity".
Mr Sunak had received backing from more than half of the 357 Tory MPs, giving him grounds to say he was the best-placed candidate to try to govern the unruly party. Ms Mordaunt would have been trying to convince Johnson backers to come over to her side, but Mr Sunak appeared to be the immediate beneficiary.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called for colleagues to back Mr Sunak as the candidate with the "most experience" and former Cabinet minister Michael Gove said the Tories must "unite behind" Mr Sunak. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith also backed Mr Sunak, calling for Ms Mordaunt to abandon her bid.
"It is time for us to end the leadership contest and get a PM in place ASAP," he said.
The Tories are on to their third Prime Minister since they won the 2019 general election under Mr Johnson's leadership. Earlier on Monday veteran Tory Sir Christopher Chope joined Labour in demanding a fresh general election, arguing it was the only solution for the next leader now the Conservative Party was "ungovernable".
The MP for Christchurch in Dorset, which he held last time with a near-25,000 vote majority, told Today: "The best way they can get that respect is by winning a mandate with the people, and that's why I think a general election is essentially the only answer, otherwise we're just going to go from bad to worse. The party is ungovernable in the House of Commons and so we're going to have continuing rebellions as we try to change policies and so on, and so I must say I'm very pessimistic, I'm very angry, and I feel that Boris has been let down once again and undermined by our parliamentary colleagues."
Had Ms Mordaunt won enough support to make the next stage, MPs would have decided which of the two candidates they preferred in an "indicative" vote. There would then have been a final online poll of party members to decide the outcome, with the result due on Friday - unless one of the candidates pulled out.
