Some Gove critics in the party might think that's a bit rich coming from him. Mr Gove also urged the party to unite behind whoever wins.
#ANOTHER WORD FOR OPTION WE NEED TO SERIAL#
Surprising, after what the outgoing prime minister's supporters would claim has been serial disloyalty towards Mr Johnson by Mr Gove going back to 2016, when he sabotaged his Vote Leave ally's leadership bid. He was less vitriolic here and also sprang a surprise by heaping glowing praise on Boris Johnson. The weekend before last, Mr Gove broke his silence on the leadership campaign in a Times article in which he slammed Ms Truss's economic policy as "a holiday from reality". Then, in an unexpected moment, it was Michael Gove - a late backer of the former chancellor - who introduced Mr Sunak.
The evening here began with Sir Iain Duncan Smith introducing Ms Truss.
They did appear on stage together briefly, but stood awkwardly side by side and appeared to avoid eye contact. Liz Truss wasn't quite so complimentary about her opponent, however and a promised cordial handshake at the end of the evening and the completion of the hustings process never materialised. Rishi Sunak was magnanimous about Liz Truss, describing her as a "fantastic foreign secretary" and a "proud and compassionate Conservative". There was a mood, it seemed, that now was the time for the Tories to end the bitterness and bad blood and come together once a new leader is elected. Here, it must be said, there was less of the acrimony and fewer barbs than at previous hustings. Voting closes at 5pm on Friday and the new leader will be crowned at a ceremony in central London next Monday lunchtime.
The leadership roadshow that began in Leeds in late July and reached its grand finale at a packed and noisy Wembley Arena is over. That's 24 hours of speeches, interrogation, cheers and the occasional heckle that some Tory MPs fear have damaged the party so badly with blue-on-blue attacks that they've handed Labour a 13-point lead in some opinion polls. The marathon programme of hustings, that is.Īfter 12 two-hour sessions over six weeks, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will face questions from party members - some adoring, some stroppy - no more.
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