UK’s Penny Mordaunt first to enter race for PM as Boris Johnson eyes comeback

Cabinet member Penny Mordaunt became the first to formally declare her candidacy, after UK’s ruling party was forced into its second leadership contest in weeks

Currently Leader of the House of Commons, Mordaunt, who just missed out on making the final run-off after Johnson quit, says she is running for ‘a fresh start’

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British MP Penny Mordaunt is the first to announce her intention to be the next Conservative leader and Prime Minister, in London. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:33pm, 21 Oct 2022Updated: 3:27am, 22 Oct 2022

British Cabinet member Penny Mordaunt became the first to formally declare her candidacy on Friday following the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss, which has thrust the UK’s ruling Conservative Party into its second leadership contest in weeks.

That same day, a former No. 10 colleague of Boris Johnson said that Britain’s divisive former leader was looking to stage a sensational comeback.

Mordaunt, who just missed out on making the final run-off after Johnson quit, said she was running for “a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest”.

Truss announced on Thursday she was quitting after just 44 tempestuous days in office.

A poll by YouGov found 79 per cent of British people thought she was right to resign, with 64 per cent calling her a “terrible” prime minister.

The pollster also found that three in five voters want an early general election, in line with the angry clamour coming from opposition parties as Britons struggle with a worsening cost-of-living crisis.