Circle of Truss: 'Liz For Leader' Wooing More Defectors From 'Ready4Rishi' Camp

Nine Conservative MPs who had yet to declare backing for either contender came out in support of Truss on Tuesday night, saying her pledge of tax cuts and regulatory reform was what Britain needed to overcome the financial crisis.

Tory leadership favourite Liz Truss is looking to win over an "exodus" of Parliamentary supporters from rival Rishi Sunak's campaign.

That was after Chris Skidmore, the member for Kingswood in Avon, switched sides to support Truss as the candidate to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister on September 5 along with nine other previously-undecided MPs.

"We’re in talks with others from camp Rishi and Chris coming over could trigger a bigger exodus of MPs," a spokesman for the Truss campaign said.

Sunak, the former chancellor of the exchequer and co-leader of the palace coup against Johnson, won the votes of 137 of 357 Conservative MPs in the final knock-out round to decide the last two who would go to a ballot of up to 200,000 party members.

Foreign Secretary Truss trailed on 113, while Trade Policy Minister Penny Mordaunt — who has since backed Truss — came a close third with 105 votes.

Opinion polls show Truss leading Sunak by a ratio of more than two to one among the Tory membership.

"Rishi’s flip-flopping on the economy is clearly upsetting a lot of his backers," the spokesman added. "Our supporters like Liz’s optimistic vision for the future, her Conservative plan for the economy based around tax cuts, and her credentials as a leader who will stand up to dictators like Putin and prioritise national defence".

Skidmore, who opposed leaving the European Union in the run-up to the 2016 referendum and backs the 'net zero' climate change policies adopted by Johnson — before joining those calling for a vote of no-confidence in the PM — explained his defection from Sunak's side.

"Over the past few weeks, I have grown increasingly concerned by his campaign’s consistently changing position, especially on the economy, to chase votes," the backbencher said. "I am convinced that we need a bolder, more positive approach to the UK’s future".

"Above all, we need a leader who will unite the party," Skidmore continued. "Liz Truss has demonstrated that she has the leadership and personal ability to bring us all together".

Nine other MPs who had yet to declare backing for either contender came out in support of Truss on Tuesday night.

"Liz has the bold and confident vision that we require," they said in a joint statement. "She understands that with tax cuts, better regulation and supply side reform we can provide a boost to our hard working constituents and excellent businesses to get our economy growing again".

The Truss campaign has attacked Sunak over his 1.25 percent raise in National Insurance — the UK's social security tax — and a six per cent rise in corporation tax delayed until 2023. Those rises were to pay for the government's furlough scheme to workers laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic and to help clear the resulting backlog of National Health Service appointments and treatments.

But Sunak's team scored major points against Truss when she was forced into a U-turn on her plan for regional public sector pay boards to save taxpayer's money — pointing out it would mean nurses, police and soldiers taking a £1,500 annual pay cut.