Two lesser-known Conservative women are leading the race to become the next party leader and prime minister among ordinary party members.
Trade policy minister Penny Mordaunt and Saffron Walden MP Kemi Badenoch came top in a poll of 842 party members published by Tory grassroots website Conservative Home on Tuesday.
Mordaunt, a Royal Navy reservist who briefly served as defence secretary in 2019, was the favourite candidate of 19.6 per cent of those polled, with Badenoch, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, trailing by eight votes on 18.7 per cent.
Badenoch quit as equalities minister last week as part of the wave of resignations that persuaded Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step down as head of the party, prompting the most hotly-contested leadership contest in living memory. But Mordaunt surprised many by staying put in government.
Both women have waded into the row over gender identity in recent years, but from opposite sides. In May, Mordaunt angered many conservatives and feminists alike when she told Parliament she believed "trans men are men and trans women are women."
Badenoch drew fire from liberals and left-wingers in September 2021 when website Vice published leaked WhatsApp messages from 2018 in which she asked if the LGBT rights movement had run out of causes to fight for.
"It’s not even about sexuality now. It’s now like the whole transgender movement, where, OK well we’ve got gay marriage, and civil partnerships, so what are transsexuals looking for?" the future equalities minister asked.
Last week Badenoch announced that all public buildings would have to have separate toilet facilities for men and women, clamping down on the trend for unisex or 'gender-neutral' facilities. She has also pledged to put the government's 'net zero' climate goals on hold amid the deepening energy crisis.
Bookies' favourite Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor of the exchequer, trailed far behind with 12.1 per cent support, followed by Attorney General Suella Braverman on 11.1 per cent and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on 11 per cent.
Leading pro-European Union candidate Tom Tugendhat only had the approval of 7.2 per cent of members.
Significantly, the top-five polling Tories are all either women or members of an ethnic minority.
Nominations Race
While Mordaunt can reportedly already count on nominations from 25 MPs, Badenoch needs four more by Tuesday evening to reach the threshold of 20 set by the backbench 1922 Committee — a major increase on the eight required in 2019 when Johnson beat then-foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt to take over from Theresa May as PM.
Sunak leads the field in nominations with support from 43 fellow MPs. Truss' campaign announced on Tuesday afternoon that she had secured the necessary 20 to make it through to the knock-out rounds of balloting by Tory MPs — matching Tugendhat's tally.
Meanwhile, the field thinned out as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps dropped out and threw his weight behind Sunak, joined by Justice Secretary Dominic Raab.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has also announced she will not stand in the leadership race.
But Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Nadine Dorries threw their weight behind the geographically-challenged Truss.
Rees-Mogg sidestepped the question of whether she was merely the "stop Rishi candidate" of convenience for the traditional fiscally-conservative wing of the party.
Ironically, both ministers are strong proponents of Britain's decision to leave the EU while Truss backed the Remain campaign.