Liz Truss under pressure as rivals steal march in Tory leadership race

Long seen as one of the favourites to be the next Tory party leader, the foreign secretary has the backing of Boris Johnson super-loyalists Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

But she was left trailing in third place after the secret ballot of Conservative MPs, with 50 votes to 67 for Mordaunt, a trade minister and former defence secretary, who had launched her own campaign at a packed event earlier in the day.

Former chancellor Rishi Sunak came first, with 88 votes. That was less of a commanding lead than Johnson had in the early stages of the 2019 contest.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt and chancellor Nadhim Zahawi were both knocked out of the contest. Zahawi accepted the job last week, before urging Johnson to resign little more than 24 hours later.

Truss will also reiterate her promise to cut taxes, including by reversing the recent national insurance increase, which is earmarked to pay for social care. In an interview with the Spectator, she suggested tax cuts could be paid for through extra borrowing.

Labour and the Lib Dems have complained that the business of government has effectively been paralysed since Johnson announced his intention to resign last week, despite the urgency of the cost of living crisis.

Meanwhile, Sunak backer Gavin Williamson was accused by one person in the Tugendhat camp of trying to persuade him to throw his weight behind the former chancellor.

A second round of voting will be held on Thursday, with the bottom candidate eliminated. Another round will then take place on Monday, after two televised debates among the remaining candidates. Once the field has been narrowed down to two, grassroots Conservative members will make the final choice.