Boost for Liz Truss in backing from Lord Frost and Suella Braverman

2022-07-14

Boost for Liz Truss as she wins backing from Lord Frost and Suella Braverman as Kemi Badenoch is told to give way

Lord Frost has urged Kemi Badenoch to withdraw her bid to help Liz Truss
The foreign secretary is on the verge of defeated Suella Braverman’s backing
She yesterday defended her loyalty to Boris Johnson, saying she still backs him

Liz Truss was last night poised to win the backing of Attorney General Suella Braverman when she was forced to pull out of the Tory leadership race after coming last in the second round of voting.

It came as the Foreign Secretary won the support of Lord Frost as her campaign started to gather momentum.

Miss Truss tightened her grip on third place in the contest, picking up an extra 14 votes in the second ballot.

And she will win the support of Mrs Braverman, sources said last night. Until now, she been robbed of further momentum as the Attorney General refused to abandon her doomed campaign.

Liz Truss at yesterday’s launch of her campaign to be Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister, at King’s Buildings, Smith Square, London

Miss Truss tightened her grip on third place in the contest yesterday, picking up an extra 14 votes in the second ballot

Writing in the Telegraph, Lord Frost said: ‘Liz’s depth of experience, her energy and ideas – as well as the simple fact she has the most votes of the three – put her in the lead’

Last night she attracted further heavyweight backing in her battle to reach the final two.

Lord Frost urged Kemi Badenoch to withdraw from the Tory leadership race and back Miss Truss.

Writing for the Daily Telegraph, Lord Frost said: ‘We need unity among free marketeers. Kemi and Suella Braverman set out convincing programmes, with differing emphases, for change.

‘But Liz’s depth of experience, her energy and ideas – as well as the simple fact she has the most votes of the three – put her in the lead.

He added: ‘It is now time for pragmatism. I urge Kemi to stand down in return for a serious job in a Truss administration.’

Earlier, a friend of Lord Frost said he would formally endorse Miss Truss and urge fellow candidates on the Right of the party to unite behind her.

‘While Suella, Kemi and Penny are all extremely good candidates, he thinks Liz’s evident determination to put Britain on to a new, reforming free-market economic path gives her the edge,’ they said.

‘He thinks it’s time for all three to unite behind her.’

A string of up-and-coming Tory MPs are also expected to endorse Miss Truss, including former health minister Ed Argar, Home Office minister Tom Pursglove and defence minister James Heappey, who is close to Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

Brexiteer Steve Baker, who had been backing Mrs Braverman, will also now support Miss Truss.

The Foreign Secretary used her campaign launch yesterday to promise continuity on Mr Johnson’s key pledges such as levelling up, while breaking with the economic policy pursued by former chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Although Ms Truss is poised to receive her backing, Ms Braverman hinted she might not back Miss Truss at all, saying that the Foreign Secretary’s decision to campaign for Remain six years ago would be a ‘factor’ in her decision

There had been fury at the refusal of Mrs Braverman to step aside and lend her supporters to Miss Truss.

One ally said: ‘If she had dropped out in the morning we could have expected a significant number of her people to come across, giving Liz momentum into the weekend. It was a golden opportunity missed.’

But Mrs Braverman hinted she might not back Miss Truss at all, saying that the Foreign Secretary’s decision to campaign for Remain six years ago would be a ‘factor’ in her decision.

In her speech in central London yesterday, Miss Truss highlighted her experience as a former chief secretary to the Treasury, and said she was the only candidate with the experience to offer a credible economic alternative to Mr Sunak.

‘We are at a critical moment for our country,’ she said. ‘Now is the time to be bold, we cannot have business-as-usual economic management, which has led to low growth for decades.’

She pledged to introduce ‘bold supply-side reforms’ including ‘cutting taxes’.

Miss Truss also said she had opposed Mr Sunak’s hike in national insurance and would scrap it if elected.

And she defended her decision to stand by Boris Johnson when others were deserting him.

‘I am a loyal person. I am loyal to Boris Johnson,’ she said.

‘I supported our Prime Minister’s aspirations and I want to deliver the promise of the 2019 manifesto.

‘What we need to do now is deliver, deliver, deliver, and I am the person in this race who has the record of delivery.’

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