Candidates face off north of the border

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss will go headto-head in Tayside as the Tory leadership race enters its critical final stages.

The two candidates to become Britain’s prime minister will be in Perth today for the only Scottish hustings event of the campaign.

Here’s all you need to know as the Conservative rivals make a last-ditch pitch to win over Tory members north of the border.

Both leadership contenders start in the north this afternoon, where they will meet party members and activists.

Ms Truss is expected to visit a business earlier in the day, before making her way to an event in Aberdeen.

Former chancellor Mr Sunak is expected to be in Aberdeenshire as he tries to win over local Conservative supporters.

The pair will then travel to Perth for the hustings later in the evening.

Undecided Scottish Tory voters will be keen to welcome Mr Sunak and Ms Truss to their home patches as they decide where to lend their support.

But the two Tory MPs should prepare for an angry response from opponents, fed up with a cost-of-living crisis and chaos in Downing Street.

Plenty of anger against the Conservative Party remains following Boris Johnson’s decision to quit.

Pro-independence supporters are expected to gather in Perth outside the concert hall before the leadership debate begins.

Whoever emerges victorious once the campaign has concluded will have a tough job to win back support north of the border.

However, wider popularity among Scottish voters will not be a point of concern for either candidate right now – since only Tory members actually get to decide who becomes prime minister.

The cost-of-living crisis has dominated the campaign so far, and that is unlikely to change.

Mr Sunak and Ms Truss have been urged to promise further support for struggling households before energy bills rise again in October.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has heaped more pressure on them to act after insisting he would freeze the energy cap if he were in 10 Downing Street.

As always, the future of the Union will be a central concern for Tory members nervous about Nicola Sturgeon’s latest independence push.

Both Mr Sunak and Ms Truss vowed to block a second referendum next year and insist the question was answered back in 2014.

Ms Truss sparked anger when she branded Ms Sturgeon an “attention-seeker”.

Even if both candidates stand firm against a referendum, mending relations with Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross and restoring trust among disillusioned voters will still be important.

Before they head to Perth for the hustings, both candidates can expect to be quizzed over the future of the oil and gas industry in the north-east.

Mr Sunak took the decision to impose a windfall tax on multinational firms in May despite previously opposing the measure.

The hustings event is to begin at 7pm – but if you are hoping to watch it, then you are out of luck.

The debate will not be broadcasted live on either the BBC or STV for Scots hoping to tune in, meaning it is available for Tory members only.

Just 0.2% of the British population have a say in who becomes the next prime minister.

HOPEFULS: Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are set to duel tonight at a hustings in Perth – the only such event in Scotland.