PENNY Mordaunt’s hopes of becoming PM were crumbling last night as she struggled to scrape together supporters and suffered a nightmare TV interview.
The Commons leader had the publicly declared backing of just 25 MPs — leaving her scrabbling to reach the required 100 nominations by 2pm today.
Yesterday she insisted she was “very confident” about reaching the threshold, claiming: “I’m in this to win it.”
She denied that she had approached Boris Johnson to strike a deal offering her support in return for a top job.
Her allies insisted Ms Mordaunt, 49, urged him to drop out so she could prevent a Rishi Sunak “coronation”.
But her suitability for PM was questioned as she refused to lay out any of her plans for office in a BBC interview.
Pressed on spending plans for defence, the triple lock, NHS and benefits she told Laura Kuenssberg she would not “be drawn”.
On her vision for the October 31 economic statement she said: “I'm not going to talk about the details of that package, what might come forward or decisions that are in the Bank of England's remit.”
Ms Mordaunt has committed to keep Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor and has met him to discuss the economic turmoil.
She described her last tilt as a “halfway house” between tax-cutting Liz Truss and cautious Mr Sunak, and tried to distance herself from the doomed mini-Budget.
Ms Mordaunt said: "I deeply regret that the debate now is about, are you for stability or low taxes. “You have to have stability in order to deliver low taxes, and you have to have low taxes in order to grow the economy and create that stability.”
Penny is now scrambling to get 100 backers before the 2pm deadline today as Rishi is in pole position to become the next Tory leader.
Announcing his formal bid on Sunday morning, Rishi insisted he was the right candidate for the top job.
In a low-key tweet, he said: "The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis.
"That’s why I am standing to be Leader of the Conservative Party and your next Prime Minister.
"I want to fix our economy, unite our Party and deliver for our country."
And while Boris Johnson was expected to throw his hat in the ring, he dramatically confirmed last night he would not be standing.
The former Prime Minster insisted he had the numbers to go to a vote of membership but said: “I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.”
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