A video has re-emerged of Penny Mordaunt backing Liz Truss amid mounting speculation she could be the next prime minister.
The clip, which has been watched more than half a million times in the last 24 hours, shows Mordaunt praising Truss’s “bold economic plan”.
She also claims Truss “embodies the vision and values the British public”.
The video was filmed during the first Tory leadership contest of 2022, after Mordaunt had left the race.
In a speech to Tory members, she says: “Who can lead? Who can build that team and deliver for pour country? Who does have that bold economic plan that our nation needs?
“Who’s got reach, who can relate to people, who understands that people need help with the cost of living now? And who is going to rightly clobber our opponents?
“Who is going to hold seats and win back councils, and who most embodies the vision and values the British public had in their heads and their hearts when they voted in 2016 and 2019?
“At the start of this final phase of the contest I didn’t know the answer to those questions, but I’ve seen enough to know who the person that I’m going to put my faith in is. And that is Liz Truss.”
Truss went on to last just 49 days in No.10 after her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget triggered an economic crisis.
Tory rebels are reportedly planning to oust Rishi Sunak and replace him with with Mordaunt as the opinion polls continue to suggest the party is heading for catastrophe at the general election.
But the video of Mordaunt endorsing Truss has led social media users to question her suitability to lead the country.