The Latest Breaking News from Penny Mordaunt

The race to succeed Boris Johnson as British prime minister has begun, with five candidates still in the running for a contest which will ultimately be decided by around 200,000 Conservative Party members.

As the mercury rises, so too do the stakes in this Conservative leadership contest. Television debates will add a frisson of live drama, as outsider candidates prepare to have their breakthrough moment while the favourites hope not to make any unforced errors.

There are calls from Lord Frost for Kemi Badenoch to step aside from the Tory leadership race

Remaining candidates face three clashes in five days as contest heats up

The final five Tory candidates enter a war of words as the fight for votes gets nasty

A second round of voting among Conservative MPs has whittled the candidates in the running to replace Boris Johnson as leader down to five. Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, finished top with the votes of 101 Tory MPs, Penny Mordaunt, the international trade secretary, was second with 81, and the…

Like many in the last week, I’ve been scrambling around looking for the real Penny Mordaunt. Not the Penny Mordaunt this surprise leading contender wants to present to us, but the woman she may want to hide.

The ‘gallant lady’ with a sailor’s humour could bring saltiness to the race to replace Johnson

There’s a great river of molten horror approaching. What better time for a nice, long, frenzied leadership contest, asks Guardian columnist Marina Hyde