Foreign Secretary Liz Truss narrowly overcame a legislator on Monday to advance to the final two contenders fighting to succeed Boris Johnson, giving her campaign to become Britain's next prime minister a crucial boost.
Penny Mordaunt, a junior minister of trade, was the final candidate to be defeated in a series of votes by members of the ruling Conservative Party; she fell short of Truss by only eight votes.
Now, party members must choose between Rishi Sunak, the former finance minister, and Truss, who is the front-runner to succeed Johnson as leader and prime minister of the Conservative Party.
“I came third in this contest and I owe it to all of you to be a signpost, not a weather vane, and so I’ve made my choice,” Mordaunt told a hustings event in southwest England.
“I’ve seen enough to know who the person that I’m going to put my faith in is and that is Liz Truss.”
Mordaunt joins other senior ministers who have backed Truss in recent days, including Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and finance minister Nadhim Zahawi.
Sunak was initially seen as the favourite to replace Johnson when he helped to steer the economy through the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he has struggled to make headway against Truss.
On Sunday he said he would slash the basic rate of income tax by 20% by 2029 in a potentially make-or-break throw of the dice.