MORDAUNT MAULS BOJO
Defence chief warns party will ‘scare off’ voters if Tories don’t back a ‘unifier’... as leadership front-runner comes under savage attack
DEFENCE Secretary Penny Mordaunt launches a thinly veiled attack on Boris Johnson today as she warns the Tories against ‘riding the tiger of populism’.
Miss Mordaunt, a senior lieutenant of leadership contender Jeremy Hunt, also suggests Mr Johnson is a divisive leader who might ‘scare off’ the majority of voters.
In an article for the Daily Mail on the opposite page she hails Mr Hunt as a ‘unifier’ who can negotiate a way through the Brexit impasse.
While not naming Mr Johnson, she warns against picking a leader who will create ‘further division by just reinforcing factions in the party, Parliament or the country’.
Her comments will be seen as the opening salvo in the battle to defeat Mr Johnson, who won an emphatic victory in the first round of the Tory leadership contest
‘Create further divisions’
this week. They also suggest Mr Hunt’s team is preparing for the final head-tohead round of the leadership contest when he will try to win over Tory members.
Mr Hunt went on the offensive yesterday, attacking Mr Johnson’s apparent reluctance to appear in Tory leadership debates and asking: ‘What would Churchill say?’
In her article for the Mail, Miss Mordaunt writes: ‘The next leader must deliver unity and Brexit fast and well. So why are staunch leavers like myself and Liam Fox backing Jeremy Hunt? ... Because we don’t need to convince the already convinced.
‘There are dangers to riding the tiger of populism. Not least that it scares off the majority. Not least that it consumes you last.’ The intervention from one of the leading lights of the Leave campaign came as:
Health Secretary Matt Hancock quit the race, sparking a scramble among the remaining candidates to secure his endorsement and that of his 20 MP backers;
Boris Johnson finally agreed to attend a live TV BBC debate between the candidates on Tuesday after the next round of voting is complete;
The remaining six candidates vowed to go ahead with a Channel 4 debate on Sunday despite Mr Johnson vetoing the event warning of ‘blue on blue’ attacks;
Mr Johnson made his first appearance in the broadcast studios since the campaign began when he insisted he had taken cocaine ‘only once’;
Allies said Esther McVey, who was ousted in the first round of voting would endorse Mr Johnson;
The chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum sparked uproar after comparing Mr Johnson to Hitler and calling him a ‘buffoon’.
Mr Hunt finished second in Thursday’s vote with 43 votes, six ahead of Michael Gove, and leaving him facing a close race to secure second spot.
He began the day by needling Mr Johnson over his failure to appear in public during the campaign. Mr Johnson has come under fire for a ‘submarine’ strategy of making few comments in newspapers and at his campaign launch.
On the Radio 4 Today programme, Mr Hunt said he had been on Today 16 times this year, while Johnson had only appeared once.
After Mr Johnson appeared on the World At One on Radio 4 yesterday, Mr Hunt teased him, tweeting: ‘Sounds like someone was listening to the Today programme this morning.’
Mr Hunt’s allies say his experience conducting diplomatic negotiations will help him get a better Brexit deal.
Miss Mordaunt says he has the ‘ability to negotiate a way through’ and will not hesitate to leave with No Deal if he cannot secure one.
But she goes on to warn of ‘division’ among Conservatives if the party chooses the wrong leader, adding: ‘To leave with a deal, we need to take the majority with us.’
Her intervention will turn up the heat on Tuesday’s vote in which the remaining candidates must secure 33 votes each to stay in.
Appearing on the BBC, Mr Johnson committed to leaving the EU by October 31, adding: ‘It would be absolutely bizarre to signal at this stage that the Government was willing once again to run up the white flag and delay again.’
Comment – Page 16