Kemi Badenoch backs Rishi Sunak in Tory leadership contest in big blow for the right of the party

BRITAIN'S international trade secretary Kemi Badenoch has ruled herself out of the race to become the next prime minister throwing her weight behind former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak instead.

Ms Badenoch, 42, who made a big impact in the last Tory leadership contest, has opted to back the frontrunner this time around saying Mr Sunak was the serious, honest leader the party needs. In what must be a disappointing development for the right of the party, who would have hoped she would back former prime minister Boris Johnson, Ms Badenoch  joins a growing list of Sunak supporters, even though the ex-chancellor has yet to officially declare he is standing.

Mr Johnson is also gaining supporters but claims by his campaign team that he had reached the threshold of 100 MPs needed to secure place in the first round of voting were met with scepticism by Mr Sunak's supporters. They have challenged the Johnson camp to release a list of names, as the number of MPs to have gone on the record as backing the ex-PM is considerably smaller.

In a further twist, Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson were due to meet face-to-face yesterday but their meeting was postponed for reasons that are not clear. it is expected that the meeting may still go ahead later today, although neither side is commenting on what is to be discussed, although there is speculation they will seek to avoid a potentially damaging contest.

Only Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons,  has officially launched a campaign to be the next prime minister since nominations opened on Friday. Ms Badenoch, a rising star on the right of the Conservative Party had been touted as a possible candidate too but she had not attracted any public support from MPs urging her to stand for leader this time.

Ms Badenoch said: "Mrs Thatcher won the public's trust and three elections in a row by making it about us, not about her. We need someone who can do the same and I believe that person is Rishi Sunak."

Another leading figure on the right of the party, former Brexit secretary Lord Frost, has also backed Mr Sunak. According to the BBC's running total of MPs who have gone on the record with support, Mr Sunak has 122 backers, to Mr Johnson's 53 and Ms Mordaunt's 23.

The hopefuls have until 2pm on Monday to find 100 backers. If any candidate reaches 156 nominations out of the 357 Tory MPs the race will be reduced to two candidates, as there will not be enough MPs left to support a third candidate.

It will then go to an online ballot of the Conservative Party membership, with the result to be announced on Friday.  However, if the party's MPs get behind just one candidate, Britain could have a new prime minister by Monday afternoon.

Polling suggests Mr Johnson would be favourite to win a members' vote.  Some leading figures in the party have reacted with horror to the prospect of a second Johnson premiership, with former leader Lord Hague warning the party would enter a death spiral.