Penny mordaunt

I’ve been thinking for the past couple of days about who can beat Penny Mordaunt in the contest to be the next Tory leader. Despite the shaky start to her campaign, I still think she’s the favourite. Rishi Sunak has too many people trying to stop him; most importantly, a lot of the membership. Truss has too many detractors within the parliamentary party (although she could possibly overcome this and win). Kemi Badenoch is a real possibility but has a lot of ground to make up during the course of the contest. The rest are either too underbaked, have too much baggage, or are beset by other issues. Mordaunt’s appeal is pretty obvious: she’s articulate and outwardly confident.

The Tory leadership contest is yet to officially begin, but things are already turning nasty. As well as reports in the papers of dirty dossiers on candidates, Tory grandees have come out to call for a ceasefire in which Boris Johnson loyalists stop attacking Rishi Sunak. Now a row has broken out over Penny Mordaunt's candidacy. The former defence secretary announced this weekend that she will be running for leader – storming into second place on MP support. On announcing the news, Mordaunt took to social media to try to address one of the biggest criticisms facing her when it comes to the contest: that she is too 'woke'. The allegations regard trans rights after she said in 2018 that 'trans women are women and trans men are men'.

It was with great excitement that Steerpike learned that Jeremy Hunt had (finally) made public what many had privately long-suspected: he's running. Yet the more Mr S read of the politician's bid for high office, the less it sounded like the Tory Remainer that we all know and love. For Hunt's prospective manifesto included support for gun rights, stricter border controls and an end to taxpayer-funded abortions. Has the Surrey MP undergone a sudden right-wing conversion? Sadly for those hoping for such a political metamorphosis, it appears not. For Jeremy C Hunt is one of the candidates who has been running in the Republican primary for a congressional seat in Georgia. And, like his namesake on this side of the pond, Hunt lost.

When Michael Fallon left government amid the 'pestminster' scandal two years ago, the expectation among Tory MPs was that Penny Mordaunt would be selected as his successor and moved to the Ministry of Defence. In the end, the role of Defence Secretary went to Gavin Williamson – who was seen as less qualified owing to the fact he had no military experience. Now Mordaunt has finally been given the job – following Theresa May's decision to sack Williamson over suspicions he was behind a leak from a meeting of the national security council. This makes Penny Mordaunt the UK’s first female defence secretary – departing her role in DfID – where she is succeeded by Rory Stewart. On paper, Mordaunt is well suited to the job.

This weekend’s public spat between David Cameron and Penny Mordaunt about whether Britain can stop the accession of new countries such as Turkey into the European Union looks like just another row in the referendum campaign. Every day one figure on one side makes a claim that riles the other side, and a war of press releases and broadcast interviews ensues. But this particular row doesn’t just tell us a lot about where the two camps are in the campaign, but also makes a considerable difference both to the campaign and to the aftermath of the vote. Firstly, it is clear that the Tory party is going to take a long time to repair after this vote.

Supporters of relaxing the hunting ban are relieved that the government has pulled tomorrow’s vote after it became clear that it would fail. They feel that there is little point in expending political capital on something they will lose. But they are now trying to work out what to do next that will ensure they can get their way eventually. One of the ideas that is circulating is that the government launch an Animal Welfare Bill at some point, which could address fox hunting as part of a number of issues, including animals in circuses and one of the most popular items in many MPs’ inboxes: chicken welfare (just ask Penny Mordaunt).

Tory MP Penny Mourdant has caused a stir in Sunday's papers over her confession at our Parliamentarian of the Year awards that she said 'cock' in Parliament as a bet with her colleagues in the Royal Navy, where she serves as a reservist. As winner of our Speech of the Year award, Mourdant clearly has a way with words. Here are her top five gags (so far): 1. Caring for your kit in the field One of the highlights of her award-winning Loyal Speech earlier this year was a gag about her Royal Navy training: 'I have benefited from some excellent training by the Royal Navy but on one occasion I felt it was not as bespoke as it might have been.

[audioplayer src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_17_July_2014_v4.mp3" title="Louise Mensch and Martha Gill discuss the reshuffle" startat=54] Listen [/audioplayer]Ask anyone who really knows David Cameron and they will tell you he likes a certain kind of woman. He has a very specific type, the Prime Minister. It is almost spooky the way all his women conform to it. They are all attractive, accomplished, articulate and well-dressed. But there is something else that makes certain women irresistible to Mr Cameron. While giving the appearance of being feisty and uncompromising, his sort of woman usually seems to know when to fall into line. I am not speaking of romantic conquests, but of the type of woman the Prime Minister likes to promote.

Penny Mordaunt, the Conservative MP for Portsmouth North, become the second women in the Queen's reign to give the Loyal Address — Parliament's formal thanks to the Monarch for her speech — this afternoon. It's a fantastic speech, full of gags which had the House in stitches. As James remarked, Tory associations will be queueing up to book her for after dinner speeches. Listen to the audio in full here: listen to ‘Penn Mordaunt's loyal address’ on Audioboo   Don't have time for the whole thing? Here are the highlights: Mordaunt was one of two women involved in the Loyal Address – it was seconded by Lib Dem Annette Brooke. Are the two the ‘Thelma and Louise’ of the Parliament?