Penny Mordaunt could take over as PM – everything you need to know about Brexiteer

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Penny Mordaunt is widely respected among Conservative Party members, who rank her as one of the favourites to take the reigns from Boris Johnson, according to Conservative Home. Ms Mordaunt and former chancellor Rishi Sunak are the hot favourites right now and are expected to put in a strong showing in the Tory leadership contest.

Who is Penny Mordaunt?

Ms Mordaunt is MP for Portsmouth North, a post she has held since 2010 and has a majority of 15,000 votes.

She became a minister for trade in September last year, and has served in successive Conservative governments.

Under David Cameron, she served as minister for local government, as well as becoming the first woman to be appointed armed forces minister.

She is a Brexiteer and backed the Vote Leave campaign in 2016 when the EU referendum was held.

Ms Mordaunt has accused the EU of “pushing its regulatory system on the rest of the world”, and described leaving the bloc as a “massive opportunity”.

She said in a speech last December: “Brexit is not an event to be mourned by the international community. Or an act of self-harm or one that requires us to be punished.

“It is a massive opportunity to anyone who believes in democracy and the power of trade as a force for good in the world.”

Why is she favourite?

In the 2019 Tory leadership race, Ms Mordaunt backed Boris Johnson to become Prime Minister, a move which has won her support within the party.

She has called for tax cuts as a way to boost the economy, going against Rishi Sunak’s approach which has seen National Insurance and corporation tax go up.

But if she puts herself forward for the Tory leadership race, which could take months to be resolved, she will come up against tough opposition.

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Favourite among Conservative Home members right now is Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

His support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion has seen Mr Wallace become a key figure in the Johnson government.

Mr Wallace served in the British Army and rose to the rank of captain in the Scots Guard.

As Tory resignations were landing on the Prime Minister’s desk yesterday, he tweeted against the mass walk out, writing the public “would not forgive us” for leaving the Government paralysed.

Ms Mordaunt replied to Mr Wallace by tweeting “absolutely correct”, a sign that her loyalties lie with the Conservative Party rather than any particular member of it.

The Tory leadership election is likely to happen before the party’s conference in October, which is being held in Birmingham.

The party will want to have a new leader in place as it begins its campaign for the general election in 2024.

In the polls, the Labour Party and Sir Keir Starmer are comfortably ahead right now, and look likely to hold onto that after this week’s events.

But a new Tory leader could change the situation over the next 12 months if the party is able to find a leader who can bring its election chances back to life.

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