Not one of the Tory leadership candidates said they would give Boris Johnson a job in their cabinets if they became prime minister.
The five contenders to replace Johnson were all asked whether they would let him sit at their cabinet table during an ITV leadership debate on Sunday evening.
But out of Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat - not one of them raised their hands when asked if they would give him a cabinet role.
The race to become Britain’s next prime minister has ramped up, with vicious personal briefings and fierce spats on the public stage.
Former chancellor Sunak claimed he was the “best person” to lead the country into the future. Foreign secretary Truss said she wanted to “unleash Britain’s potential” and was “ready” to lead.
Former minister Badenoch claimed she was the candidate who will tell “the truth” and make the country “better”.
Foreign affairs committee chairman Tugendhat argued for a “clean start”, said it was time for “change” and he was ready to lead. Trade minister Mordaunt said: “My life has been about service”.
Earlier today Tugendhat suggested Johnson’s account of partygate was “more fictional than reality”.
The Tory leadership hopeful skewered the prime minister over his account of the scandal that led to the downfall of his administration.
It comes after the government was accused of hiding how much taxpayers spent on legal advice for officials accused in the partygate scandal.
The Government Legal Department - an in-house legal organisation - has refused to even confirm or deny if their lawyers advised those being investigated by the police.
Meanwhile, Johnson has been told to hand over a huge number of documents including his diaries to MPs investigating whether he lied to parliament over partygate.
Tory MPs hope to have reduced the search for Johnson’s successor, due to be announced on September 5, to two possibilities in the coming days.
Monday will see the third round of voting with the aim of whittling down candidates to the final two by Thursday, before the summer recess.
The final two will then go forward to a postal ballot of party members.