“Now I have my feet under the desk at Number 11 Downing Street and I can tell you that my Treasury staff are some of the smartest, most professional and hardest-working people in the world. But they need political leadership to make a change in the way we manage the nation’s finances and Liz’s plans for a low-tax economy that puts growth first is what we need.” Mr Zahawi was the minister who oversaw the Covid vaccine taskforce before becoming education secretary last autumn and then, after Mr Sunak resigned last month, chancellor. He ran for the Conservative leadership, winning the support of 25 Tory MPs in the first round of voting – short of the 30-vote threshold needed to go ahead. At the time, Mr Zahawi said he would not support a candidate, making a statement on Twitter after he was dropped from the race: “I do not wish to intervene further.” He joins Suella Braverman, the attorney general, and Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, on the list of former leadership rivals now backing Ms Truss. Mr Sunak also has three such backers: Jeremy Hunt, the former foreign secretary, Grant Shapps, the transport minister, and Rehman Chisti, the foreign minister.
