PENNY Mordaunt’s hopes of becoming PM were crumbling last night as she struggled to scrape together supporters and suffered a nightmare TV interview.
The Commons leader had the publicly declared backing of just 25 MPs — leaving her scrabbling to reach the required 100 nominations by 2pm today.
Ms Mordaunt’s suitability was questioned as she refused to lay out any of her plans for office in a BBC interview
Yesterday she insisted she was “very confident” about reaching the threshold, claiming: “I’m in this to win it.”
She denied that she had approached Boris Johnson to strike a deal offering her support in return for a top job.
Her allies insisted Ms Mordaunt, 49, urged him to drop out so she could prevent a Rishi Sunak “coronation”.
But her suitability for PM was questioned as she refused to lay out any of her plans for office in a BBC interview.
Pressed on spending plans for defence, the triple lock, NHS and benefits she told Laura Kuenssberg she would not “be drawn”.
