Mortal blow for Rishi? ‘Kingmaker’ Ben Wallace backs Liz Truss to be Prime Minister and slams Sunak for ‘walking out the door’ of Boris Johnson’s cabinet
- The Defence Secretary has backed Liz Truss to become Prime Minister
- His endorsement is a major coup as Mr Wallace has been touted as a ‘kingmaker’
- He launched a scathing attack on rival Rishi Sunak for walking out as Chancellor
Ben Wallace has backed Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race and criticised Rishi Sunak for ‘walking out the door’ of Boris Johnson’s cabinet.
Speaking to The Sun, the Defence Secretary described the Foreign Secretary as ‘authentic, honest and experienced’ with the ‘integrity’ for the top job.
He also told The Times Ms Truss was ‘a winner not because she’s a slick salesperson but because she is authentic.’
The Defence Secretary described the Foreign Secretary as ‘authentic, honest and experienced’
Mr Wallace hit out at the former Chancellor, questioning what would have happened if the markets crashed on the day he quit his role, according to The Sun.
‘I don’t have the luxury as Defence Secretary of just walking out the door – I have roles in keeping this country safe,’ he told the paper.
‘And the guardian of the markets, you know, the guardian of our economy, is the chancellor.’
Wallace pulled out of the running to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, despite having been the bookmakers’ favourite to win.
Wallace pulled out of the running to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, despite having been the bookmakers’ favourite to win
Mr Wallace hit out at the former Chancellor, questioning what would have happened if the markets crashed on the day he quit his role
The politician, 52, had topped a YouGov poll of potential runners to take over as Conservative Party leader and had put a campaign team together.
But he announced on Twitter that he will not take part in the race, days after Boris Johnson announced his resignation.
Mr Wallace said on Twitter: ‘After careful consideration and discussing with colleagues and family, I have taken the decision not to enter the contest for leadership of the Conservative Party.’
He added that it had not been an ‘easy’ choice to make, but said his focus is on his role as Defence Secretary and ‘keeping this great country safe’.
After the announcement, Wallace was said to be a ‘kingmaker’ in the Tory leadership race, but was said to be ‘waiting until the final stages to announce who he is backing’ to become Prime Minister.
A friend of Mr Wallace told The Times at the time that he is a ‘kingmaker’ in the race due to his grassroots popularity in the party.
The endorsement came after the candidates were quizzed separately on a vast array of policy areas – as well as their predictions for the Women’s Euro 2022 final – as they sought to woo northern voters in the race for the top job.
The event, hosted by LBC’s Nick Ferrari, was the first of 12 sessions for the party faithful across the country to question the final two contenders, before voting for the next Tory leader and prime minister closes on September 2.
While they did not address one another directly, tax continued to be a significant dividing line between the pair.
Mr Sunak took a veiled swipe at Ms Truss by saying he would not “embark on a spree, borrowing tens and tens of billions of pounds of unfunded promises and put them on the country’s credit card”.
Meanwhile, Ms Truss criticised windfall taxes – something Mr Sunak imposed as a one-off on energy companies as chancellor.
She said: “I don’t believe in windfall taxes, because they put off future investment.
“What we should be doing is encouraging Shell and other companies to invest in the United Kingdom, because we need to get our productivity up, we need capital investment.”
But she avoided being pinned down on potential changes to inheritance tax.
“I think our tax system in Britain isn’t working. It’s too complicated. It’s even more complicated than the American tax system which we know is a nightmare,” she said.
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