A prominent former minister dropped his support for Rishi Sunak and endorsed Liz Truss, dealing with the Tory candidate even another severe setback.
Chris Skidmore attacked the former chancellor in his statement announcing his switch of allegiance, saying he was “increasingly worried” about the campaign’s “constantly shifting attitude” on policy.
He leads the Net Zero Support Group of Conservatives who care about the environment. He is from the more liberal wing of the party.
The Kingswood MP formally switched sides from one campaign to another, becoming the first MP to do so while Mr. Sunak’s poll numbers remained low.
His choice last night sparked yet another round of the blue-on-blue assaults that have come to characterise the leadership race.
Senior members of the Sunak camp informed the Times that Skidmore was exchanging in the hopes of obtaining a seat in the House of Lords because he was concerned about his 11,000 seat majority in his South Gloucestershire seat.
It happened while Mr. Sunak and Ms. Truss continued to spar on how to avoid a financial crisis this winter.
The Foreign Secretary reaffirmed her commitment to lowering taxes in order to revive the economy, proposals that Mr. Sunak said would result in the Tories receiving a “hammering” in the next election.
At a hustings in Darlington, she told northern Tories that she needed to postpone a planned rise in Corporation Tax in order to spur economic development.
She also refused Gordon Brown’s and Tony Danker’s requests to meet with her challenger and Boris Johnson before the result of the Tory leadership election is revealed in September in order to resolve the energy situation.
She called the plan a “kangaroo committee” and demanded that Boris Johnson take immediate action, which he is refusing to do.
In the beginning, Mr. Skidmore said, “I had supported Rishi Sunak during the MPs’ stage of the race.”
But over the last several weeks, his campaign’s constant stance changes, particularly on the economy, in an effort to get votes, have worried me more and more. I’m certain that the UK’s future requires a bolder, more upbeat strategy.
Above all, we want a leader who can bring the party together. Liz Truss has shown that she has the leadership skills and interpersonal skills necessary to unite us all.
We cannot afford to be seen as a divided party, and in my opinion, Liz is the greatest candidate to bring us together and lead the nation in tackling the difficulties we face.
When questioned about the departure of MP Chris Skidmore to support Liz Truss, Conservative Theresa Villiers, who is endorsing Rishi Sunak in the party’s leadership competition, commented that “inevitably MPs change their minds throughout these contests.”
He has a lot of support and has tremendous ideas for our economy, according to Conservative Party members with whom Ms. Villiers often speaks.
She continued by stating that “every Conservative leadership election fight there has ever been,” MPs altering their votes “is a normal part of”
“Rishi had a wonderfully excellent hustings in Darlington last night,” she said, “and in the Sky hustings he won over that audience.
He’s receiving a great welcome on the ground. He’s campaigning to win.”
After experts offered a startling warning that energy costs might exceed £4,200 in the new year, Ms. Truss has refrained from pledging more help for those trying to make ends meet.
After Cornwall Insight predicted that typical expenses might rise to roughly £3,582 in October from $1,971 now, before rising even more in January, the two remaining candidates for the Tory leadership faced additional demands to explain how they would assist.
In order to address the matter before one of them takes over as prime minister, Mr. Sunak promised to be willing to meet down with his challenger and current PM Boris Johnson.
However, he questioned the need of the action, which was pushed for by people like Gordon Brown, while Ms. Truss and him disagreed on the proper course of treatment.
According to Boris Johnson, his successor as prime minister “will have the budgetary firepower and the capacity to continue to continue looking after people” and he is “completely sure” in this.
The Prime Minister said that he is “confident” that the winner of the Tory leadership contest would want to make declarations about how they will “further support individuals” who are trying to make ends meet.
In his remarks at a Downing Street reception on Tuesday, Mr. Johnson made jokes about the event being one of his final ones in the garden at Number 10 and the possibility of a man or a woman being the next prime minister.
In addition, the Prime Minister told the guests that “people are feeling the pinch across our country in these hard economic times, and they’re feeling the impact in particular of the spikes in energy prices that are being caused by (Vladimir) Putin’s war in Ukraine, and of course it’s right that the Government is doing everything that we can to help.”
“We’re putting £1,200 into the wallets of the eight million most disadvantaged families and £400 for everyone to assist with the cost of energy,” the statement said.
“The money will remain pouring in throughout the fall, with more arriving in September and October.”
A harsher windfall tax will soon be imposed on energy corporations in reaction to a dismal new estimate that claims bills will reach £4,400 by the spring.
The profits of companies like BP will be subject to a 25% charge, which Mr. Sunak announced in May, to raise about £5 billion annually.
However, this is expected to be increased further in light of growing worries about how millions of families will be able to afford to heat their homes in the coming months.
Along with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Mr. Sunak’s replacement at the Treasury, Nadhim Zahawi, will attend crisis discussions with sector leaders on Thursday morning in order to demand a breakdown of anticipated revenues and payments as well as their investment plans.
According to a Treasury insider who spoke to the Sun, “It was beyond their wildest hopes” when you compare what these corporations were expected to earn with what they really brought in. We are considering ways to increase and accelerate such earnings.
Following a prediction by energy consulting firm Cornwall Insight, bills would rise from their current level of £1,971 in October to around £3,582 before increasing considerably more in the New Year.
For the first three months commencing at the beginning of January, Ofgem will set the price restriction at £4,266 for the typical family.
Compared to its earlier projection from last week, this is almost £650 higher.
Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert yesterday called the hike “tragic news” and said millions would not be able to afford it.
He asked the government to start an urgent “action plan,” saying any additional mitigation plans could not be put into place until the current Conservative leadership race was concluded.
Energy costs have skyrocketed recently as a consequence of the growing cost of natural gas, which is partially a result of the conflict in Ukraine.
The cost of living has emerged as a crucial issue in the Tory leadership contest, with Liz Truss opposing any “handouts” and Rishi Sunak promising direct assistance to families to get them through a “very challenging” winter.
Mr. Sunak said that if elected, he will expand the assistance programme he unveiled earlier this year, which granted every family a $400 energy bill credit and an additional £650 to those receiving means-tested benefits.
Bridget Phillipson, a Labour MP, said that in addressing the growing cost of electricity, the government “has not prepared for the long term.”
We have been particularly susceptible over the last 12 years because we haven’t made long-term choices on our energy security and house insulation, she said.
“Labour’s got a proposal around that too, that would decrease expenses for families but also offer that immediate help,” the shadow education secretary said on BBC Breakfast.
“And what do we see now?” she said. They’re more focused on the Conservative Party than on the grave circumstances that retirees are facing, who are utterly scared of what the winter will bring. Conservative leadership candidates are throwing jabs at each other and whining about renewable energy.
“This is absolutely a horrific indictment of Britain in the 21st century,” the author writes. “Parents missing meals to make sure their kids don’t go without, food banks seeing individuals turning down food that needs heating because they don’t have the means to heat it up.”