Mr Tugendhat, who was ruled out of the race earlier this month, insisted the foreign secretary could “unite” the fractured party and her proposals for more than £30bn of tax cuts were “based on true Conservative principles”. His comments came just 24 hours after Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who is popular among Tory MPs, revealed his support for Ms Truss and attacked Mr Sunak for “leaving” the government. Former Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis also made the cover to back Ms Truss to be the next leader of the Tory party. Writing in The Telegraph, he said Mr Sunak’s Treasury “seems to want to try and keep the EU happy, when I have always felt our focus should be on working to deliver results for the UK people”. Mr Tugendhat, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, who did not serve in Boris Johnson’s cabinet and was untainted by multiple scandals, submitted his own leadership by promising the party a “clean start”. But backing Ms Truss, who has remained loyal to the outgoing prime minister, Mr Tugendhat claimed she is the “only” candidate who has convinced him they are ready to be prime minister – a role he described as “no walk in the park”. With energy and food prices soaring, the Tory MP said “many families will be looking at Christmas with dread”. Writing in the Times, he claimed: “Liz’s plan for the economy is based on true conservative principles of low taxation, an austere state and bold supply-side reform.” In a swipe at former chancellor Mr Sunak, who has repeatedly claimed his rival’s plans would raise inflation and interest rates, Mr Tugendhat said: “It is not right that we have the highest tax burden in 70 years in a period of sluggish growth and rising energy prices.” Former Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat is backing Liz Truss (PA) The former chancellor was again on the tax defense in a critical interview with Andrew Neil on Friday, rejecting accusations that his policies would lead to a recession and warning that Mrs Truss’ plans for huge tax cuts would “fuel the fire’ of inflation. In a bid to drum up support among the Tory faithful, Mr Sunak will launch an attack on Saturday on “left-wing troublemakers” and vow to stamp out “woke nonsense” during an election visit. The speech will echo the former chancellor’s remarkable shift to the right on other cultural issues, in an apparent bid to appeal to Conservative members who decide the contest.
