Battle to face Rishi Sunak in run-off to be PM heading for three-way photo finish

THE battle to face Rishi Sunak in the run-off to be PM is heading for a three-way photo finish.

Frontrunner Mr Sunak pulled further away from the field last night and needs the backing of five more Tory MPs to be guaranteed a final two place.

But behind him, the race tightened up considerably — with former odds-on favourite Penny Mordaunt actually losing support.

Any one of Ms Mordaunt, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss or former rank outsider Kemi Badenoch could prevail, with the latest round of voting taking place this afternoon.

Last night, Ms Badenoch declared: “It’s all to play for.”

She added she had the “continued momentum” and was “closing the gap” as the “only change candidate left in the race. I’m in it to win”.

Yesterday’s polling followed the two bad-tempered televised leadership debates over the weekend, both of which saw strong performances from ex-Chancellor Mr Sunak.

He put on 14 MP supporters to take him to 115.

Ms Mordaunt went down to 82 after losing one supporter.

Ms Truss gained seven to take her to 71, but rising star Ms Badenoch soared by nine to 58.

Moderate Tom Tugendhat crashed out with just 32 Tory MPs backing him in the third round of voting.

It is now guaranteed that the Conservative Party will elect either the UK’s first black or British-Asian PM, or third female premier.

Westminster is preparing for a morning of furious lobbying as MPs prepare to vote again tonight to whittle the race down to three.

The final two will be decided on Wednesday afternoon, with around 150,000 Tory members then voting on the next PM by September 5.

Ms Truss was last night the bookies’ favourite to take the second place slot after Ms Mordaunt slumped.

The Trade Minister had faced a torrid weekend of allegations that she had been misleading about her trans stance, was a lazy minister and had broken ranks to meet a boycotted Muslim group.

Bookies said there had been a surge of bets on the Foreign Secretary, but she fell short of her allies’ expectations for this round.

Brexiteer Suella Braverman, who crashed out on Thursday, had 27 supporters up for grabs — with the lion’s share unexpectedly going to frontrunner Mr Sunak.

Soaring Ms Badenoch picked up more than Ms Truss but must win over the majority of eliminated Mr Tugendhat’s votes to leapfrog her into the final three.

Bookies Ladbrokes said last night: “A flurry of bets on Liz Truss over the last few hours has forced us to slash her odds to just 2/1 — shorter than they’ve ever been to replace Boris.

“Rishi Sunak continues to lead the way at even-money, while Penny Mordaunt has seen her odds tumble to 4/1, putting her third in the betting.”

Last night, Team Truss insisted only the Foreign Secretary could beat Mr Sunak with the members — and be ready to run No10.

One supporter said: “She is the right person for the job, as there’s no shallow end in this swimming pool.”

They told reporters Ms Truss has a “strong track record of delivering on lots of different jobs” and “we need someone who can absolutely hit the ground running”.

Amid the Tory civil war, tonight’s planned Sky News debate was canned yesterday after both Mr Sunak and Ms Truss pulled out.

Both decided more public blue-on-blue squabbling risked handing a PR gift to Labour and Sir Keir Starmer.

Sources in Mr Sunak’s camp said they were open to another telly stand-off if he gets into the final two.

And an ally close to Team Truss said it was “not the right time” to be doing debates when only 358 MPs could decide on the outcome.

Last night, departing Mr Tugendhat gave a swansong warning to his fellow Tories that they risk annihilation unless they come together.

He raged: “If we cannot speak to the country then the separatists, the socialists and the sandal-wearers will tear our great country down.”

In a rally cry address to backbenchers, he urged them to redouble efforts to fight back against the SNP in Scotland and warned letting Labour in would risk the breakdown of the UK forever.

Last night, his campaign manager, Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said his supporters would move “as a block” after considering policy decisions overnight.

Such a move would see the former Army officer play kingmaker but other Tories were sceptical that his supporters would all shift as one.

Truss allies were confident that Trevelyan would back the Foreign Secretary after she launched an astonishing blast on Ms Mordaunt yesterday — accusing her own junior minister of being too busy plotting to do her job for months.