Rightwing Tory MP Suella Braverman ’s bid to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader may come to an end before it even begins despite growing supprt among ordinary party members.
The Independent understands that the former home secretary is struggling to get the 10 MPs needed to put her on the ballot paper to become the next Conservative leader as rightwing Brexiteers look at Robert Jenrick as an alternative candidate.
Ms Braverman has attracted negative headlines with her support for the Rwanda deportation scheme as “her dream”, description of pro-Gaza supporters as “hate marchers”, call to takeaway homeless people’s tents , claim LGBTQ+ flag “represented child mutilation which left her physically repulsed” and claiming imigrants arriving on small boats was “an invasion”.
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But supporters have warned that Ms Braverman being kept off the ballot paper will be “the last straw” for many ordinary members who are generally more rightwing than the party’s MPs.
A poll sent out to 14,000 Conservative party members by the Conservative Post showed that Ms Braverman was easily ahead of her rivals with about 460 of the first 1,347 respondents.
With Mr Jenrick now officially nominated, the remnants of the Tory rightwing after the election wipeout on 4 July, appear to have decided to go with a less controversial figure in the hope of backing the winning candidate. An ally of Ms Braverman’s said she was “struggling” to get the nominations.
Mr Jenrick was one of Ms Braverman’s deputies in the Home Office when he was immigration minister who resigned in protest over Mr Sunak’s approach to the Rwanda deportation scheme which he claimed did not go far enough.
While he and Ms Braverman, who was sacked just before his resignation, formed an hardline alliance during the Rwanda debate, the two have ended up as rivals for the rightwing ticket with Mr Jenrick taking support away from his former boss.
The Independent understands that six MPs had backed Ms Braverman including her mentor Sir John Hayes, who had flirted with supporting Jenrick. But key figures like Danny Kruger, who switched to the Jenrick camp to become campaign manager, because they believe he is in a better position to win.
Ms Braverman had been criticised by her colleagues for declaring defeat in the election two days before people went to the polling stations and her comments attacking colleagues for being “liberal” afterwards. She also had public spats with Mr Jenrick and the bookies’ favourite for the contest, Kemi Badenoch.
Ms Braverman is meeting with allies to discuss her next move and whether she should support someone else or continue to try to get enough nominations by Monday.
However, her cause has not been helped by the decision by the Brexiteer European Research Group (ERG) not to make any decision on supporting candidates until after the summer.
Explaining why he has backed Mr Jenrick, Mr Kruger, who founded the rightwing New Conservatives movement, said: "To have any path back to government we must win back those voters we have lost, across the board but particularly to Reform. At the same time we have to bring our party together, united behind one set of coherent Conservative principles."
Meanwhile, it is understood that another former home secretary Priti Patel is close to submitting her nomination papers and is set to also win some of the few remaining rightwing Tory MPs.
Another former home secretary James Cleverly and former security minister Tom Tugendhat have already announced that they have nominations to proceed. Former business secretary Kemi Badenoch is expected to also enter the race and could end up as the rightwing candidate.
Meanwhile, former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride is also understood to be struggling to get the nominations.
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