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.
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“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.
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