Bracknell’s MP has publicly endorsed one of the nominees for leadership of the Conservative party and, by extension, the next Prime Minister. 

So far, 11 MPs have put their names forward for the position, but James Sunderland believes the MP for Portsmouth North, Penny Mordaunt, “ticks every box.” 

“I would be proud to serve any of the leadership contenders and they are all excellent. But for me, Penny Mourdant ticks every box,” he said. 

If elected, Ms Mordaunt has stated that her priority will be to “drive growth and competition” by building an economy “for a modern world”. 

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The former chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is currently the front runner amongst Tory MPs, however, Ms Mordaunt has come out as the favoured candidate amongst Conservative Party members. According to a recent poll, she received 19.6 per cent of the votes. 

Mr Sunderland has called Ms Mourdaunt “fresh, fun” and “dynamic” in his endorsement of the candidate. 

“A proven leader, Brexiteer, pro-Union, low tax, no-nonsense, […] and full of integrity, I will be supporting her campaign,” he added. 

She has already received criticism for her online campaign video after it initially went out with a clip of paralympic athlete Jonnie Peacock, who asked for it to be removed as he hadn’t given permission, which also included former paralympian and convicted killer Oscar Pistorius 

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If she manages to outlast her opponents, Ms Mourdant would become only the third female UK Prime Minister.   

Margaret Thatcher became the UK’s first female PM in 1979, followed by Theresa May, the Conservative MP for Maidenhead who served as PM from 2016 to 2019, before being replaced by the outgoing Boris Johnson. 

The other ten candidates to date include Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the current Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, the former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, the former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, the chair of the Commons foreign affairs select committee Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the health and social care select committee Jeremy Hunt, Attorney General Suella Braverman, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Foreign Office minister Rehman Chishti. 

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The timetable for replacing him was outlined last night, with the deadline for nominations to get on the ballot closing at 6 pm this evening (July 12).  

Candidates must be able to find at least 20 MPs to support their bid before they can be included, after which three rounds of voting will take place amongst Tory MPs until the field is whittled down to just two. 

The first round of voting will happen on July 13, followed by a second and third round of voting likely taking place on July 14 and July 18 respectively. 

The deadline for deciding the final two candidates is July 21, where a vote will take place amongst all Conservative members and a winner to be announced on September 5.