Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have pulled out of a third scheduled TV debate to avoid further public bloodshed in the Conservative leadership contest.
Sky News cancelled Tuesday’s scheduled TV debate, after a Sunday night clash between the five remaining candidates exposed deep and bitter splits within the Conservative party.
Sunak and Truss exchanged blows in the first two debates, on Channel 4 on Friday and ITV on Sunday, with Sunak targeted by other candidates for his role in Boris Johnson’s government and his insistence that tax cuts must wait for inflation to be lowered.
A source in Sunak’s campaign said the former chancellor had never committed to participating in the Sky News debate on Tuesday evening, while Truss’ aides said the Foreign Secretary was “unlikely” to take part if all the other candidates did not.
Tory party members choose from a final two candidates after up to three more rounds of voting among the party’s MPs between Monday and Wednesday, to whittle the field down from the current five.
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