Penny Mordaunt has rejected a call by Boris Johnson to pull out of the Tory leadership race and back him, sources say, in another blow to his prospects of returning to Downing Street.
Several long-time allies of Mr. Johnson, including Suella Braverman and Steve Baker, threw their support behind Rishi Sunak, the frontrunner in the race, on Sunday.
Blow to former PM as old ally backs Sunak - politics latest
Mr. Baker, the former head of backbench Brexiteers, warned that a potential comeback by Mr. Johnson, who was ousted by his colleagues in July, would be a "guaranteed disaster".
Although Mr. Johnson has not officially entered the race, his offer to Ms. Mordaunt implies he may not have the backing of the 100 MPs he needs to go through to a vote by the party membership.
Ms. Mordaunt chose to stick with her campaign, and earlier insisted she was "in it to win it".
So far, Mr. Sunak has the backing of 142 supporters, followed by Mr. Johnson at 59 and Ms. Mordaunt at 24. The candidates must secure the backing of 100 MPs by 2 pm tomorrow to go forward in the race.
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Mr. Sunak, who became the second candidate to officially enter the race on Sunday, had already reached the threshold before he made his announcement.
In a statement, the former chancellor promised he would lead with "integrity, professionalism, and accountability".
Mr. Johnson also held talks with Mr. Sunak last night and was rumored to have discussed a potential deal over the leadership - but the meeting appears to have come to nothing.
He returned to the UK on Saturday after breaking off a holiday in the Dominican Republic following Ms. Truss's dramatic resignation on Thursday.
If all three make it through the first stage, Tory MPs will vote on their favored candidates. The two most popular will go forward to a vote by the party membership unless MPs unite behind one candidate
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