Thumbs up for Mordaunt as she vows crackdown on 'evil and barbaric' people smugglers

14 July 2022, 00:32 | Updated: 20 October 2022, 13:50

Penny Mordaunt has gained momentum in the race for the Tory leadership after polling strongly with MPs – and is looking to shore up her support by pledging to crack down on "evil and barbaric" trafficking gangs.

Ms Mordaunt, a trade minister and MP for Portsmouth North, came second behind former chancellor Rishi Sunak in the first round of votes on Wednesday evening.

She received 67 votes - ten more than Liz Truss in third place, and 21 behind Mr Sunak.

But it followed a snap poll of Conservative party members that suggested Ms Mordaunt would beat Mr Sunak if the final vote by Tory party members was a choice between the two.

She followed her win by pledging to tackle people traffickers who smuggle migrants in perilous, sometimes fatal, journeys over the Channel and the Mediterranean.

"We must crack down on the evil and barbaric practice that exploits vulnerable people to arrive here illegally," she told The Sun.

"I've spent a long time in the Mediterranean mapping migrant routes in the Med and North Libya - we should be doing more to work on what would be in France's interest in regards to their Southern border.

"The rules governing all of this are completely unfit for the world we live in today - we need a new diplomatic narrative."

Ms Mordaunt, who would retain the Rwanda migrant plan if she gets the keys to No10, would cut off fuel supplies and boats from smugglers in France and offer Paris help in protecting their borders from illegal migrants.

Mr Sunak won the first stage of Tory voting by a smaller margin than Boris Johnson did in the early stages of the 2019 leadership contest.

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The results have caused a stir in Westminster, with Liz Truss planning to reiterate her plan for tax cuts to get MPs on side, according to the Guardian.

Ms Truss is also set to take aim at Ms Mordaunt, with the Telegraph reporting the foreign secretary will use her campaign on Thursday to highlight the minister's lack of economic experience.

Ms Mordaunt's supporters have said the vote shows an appetite for a "fresh pair of hands" at the helm of the government.

She thanked supporters in a video on Twitter shortly after the vote, saying: "Thank you so much for all the wonderful messages you have sent, it means a great deal to me and my team."

Iain Dale caller says Penny Mordaunt 'could actually give this country back its credibility'

The first vote by Tory MPs took place on Wednesday night, whittling the number of candidates down to six.

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt were both eliminated from the contest after failing to get the necessary 30 MPs on side to support their campaigns.

Since the vote Mr Hunt has announced he is backing Mr Sunak's campaign - despite telling LBC only yesterday he feared the former chancellor's economic policy would "lead us into a recession".

Mr Zahawi has not said who he supports.

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Read more: Race for PM: Penny Mordaunt charges ahead in snap poll of Tory members

Mr Sunak stormed through Wednesday's vote, with Ms Mordaunt a close second and Ms Truss not far behind.

In fourth place was Kemi Badenoch, just three votes ahead of Tom Tugendhat in fifth.

Suella Braverman came sixth, having scraped through with the support of 32 MPs.

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A second round of voting is set to take place tomorrow, with those who voted for Mr Zahawi and Mr Hunt facing a choice of who to choose next.

The votes will continue until only two candidates remain, at which point they will face Conservative party members at a series of hustings over the summer before a final vote takes place.

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The next stage of Ms Mordaunt's campaign will see her selling her security and defence policy.

She will argue her plan is clear and will highlight her own military upbringing, according to the Telegraph.