
Rishi Sunak speaking at the launch of his campaign to be Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister, at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London
(Picture: PA)Conservative leadership hopefuls were on Tuesday scrambling to secure the support of 20 fellow MPs needed to enter the race to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
With just hours until the deadline for nominations closes at 6pm, only three of the 11 candidates had reached the necessary threshold by 8am on Tuesday - former Chancellor and front runner Rishi Sunak, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat.