Rory Stewart surges to SECOND favourite in Tory leadership race as he changes his mind AGAIN and says he ‘100 per cent’ will not work for Boris Johnson because of his backing for a No Deal Brexit
- Mr Stewart overtook Jeremy Hunt in the betting after strong TV appearances
- Boris Johnson remains the runaway odds-on favourite to become the new PM
- The final two candidates will go head-to-head in a vote by the Tory membership
Rory Stewart could be come the main challenger to Boris Johnson’s leadership ambitions after making a shock surge into second place in the betting today.
The International Development Secretary has leapfrogged Jeremy Hunt as leadership rivals battle it out to join runaway favourite Mr Johnson in the final two.
It came as he again changed his mind over whether he would serve in a Boris Johnson Cabinet, telling Good Morning Britain he ‘100 per cent’ would not.
Only last Friday he had said he would be ‘honoured to serve if, as expected, Mr Johnson is voted Tory leader and prime minister by Tory members next month.
Mr Stewart said his principles over No Deal Brexit – which he has ruled out backing if he becomes prime minister – would stop him from working for a leader who advocated it.
‘In order to be Boris’s foreign secretary or international development secretary, I would have to sit on your programme and advocate for a no deal Brexit that I think can’t be delivered, is going to lead to delay…’ he told GMB.
Mr Stewart told GMB today (pictured) that if he worked for Boris Johnson he would have to ‘advocate for a no deal Brexit that I think can’t be delivered’
Mr Johnson (pictured today) is the runaway favourite to replace Theresa May and Conservative leader and prime minister
He was later challenged by Susanna Reid over the fact that he backed Remain in 2016 and then agreed to respect the referendum result to deliver Brexit, with the presenter asking whether a Boris Johnson win would give him a mandate for a No Deal Brexit.
Mr Stewart replied: ‘There are two votes that I really deeply respect. I respect the result of a referendum, I respect the result of a general election.
‘I’m a loyal Conservative, so I’m not going to bring down a Boris Johnson Government, but I cannot serve in a cabinet and advocate for something I don’t believe in.’
Mr Stewart is now 12/1 with Betfair and 10/1 with Ladbrokes.
While he is in second he is a long way behind Mr Johnson, who is the odds-on favourite.
The former foreign secretary is also miles ahead in polling of Conservative members who will ultimately decide the new party leader.
Tory MPs while whittle the candidates down to a final two who will then face a vote of the wider party. Three have been knocked out already and Mr Hancock stepped down before the second round ballot.
The battle for the keys to No10 is turning nasty as contenders desperately struggle to overhaul Mr Johnson’s commanding lead.
They are scrambling to pick up votes from those already eliminated – with Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who had 20 supporters, making a surprise decision to back Mr Johnson.
Last night all remaining candidates except Mr Johnson took part in a Channel 4 leadership debate.
The rivals crossed swords early on, with Mr Stewart accusing his Brexiteer colleagues of ‘macho’ posturing and demanding to know how they planned to take the UK out of the EU by the end of October without approval from parliament.
Dominic Raab shot back that he had resigned from the Cabinet ‘on principle’ and politicians had to keep their word. ‘I’m the only one who can be trusted to get us out by the end of October,’ he said, repeating his vow to suspend the Commons if necessary to stop it blocking No Deal.