Conservative leadership campaign quotes of the day
The battle to become the next prime minister was becoming increasingly bitter as the number of candidates was reduced to five.
“My perception of Penny is she takes a different view to me when it comes to gender ideology and the position of trans, for example, I think she said a trans woman is a woman, I disagree with that.” – Suella Braverman attacks Penny Mordaunt after the Attorney General was eliminated from the race.
“She wasn’t fully accountable, she wasn’t always visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where she was. This became such a problem that, after six months, I had to ask the Prime Minister to move her on and find somebody else to support me.” – Former Brexit minister Lord Frost on Ms Mordaunt.
“I wouldn’t describe it as friendly fire. It’s absolutely clockwork – you get to the point that somebody gets ahead and looks to be the real challenger, and then the black op starts, the incoming fire starts.” – Former cabinet minister David Davis, a supporter of Ms Mordaunt.
“I don’t judge people by their bank accounts, I judge them by their character, and I think people can judge me by my actions over the past couple of years.” – Rishi Sunak.
“I have never turned down a challenge because the odds were against me. I don’t plan to start now.” – Tom Tugendhat after he dropped five votes in the second round of voting.
“I am a loyal person. I am loyal to Boris Johnson. 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 with the record of delivery.” – Liz Truss.
“I am delighted that a growing number of my colleagues have faith in my vision for a return to honest politics and conservative principles. Thank you for your support. Now is the time for change and I am looking forward to continuing to make that case in the TV debates.” – Kemi Badenoch.
“The reason why I think that supporters of Suella and Kemi should come and join Liz is because a lot of their policies are in a very similar direction, about having a free economy, about making sure we stand up for the United Kingdom and be proud of our country.” – Therese Coffey, the Work and Pensions Secretary, a key figure in the Truss campaign.
