May garners more support for Tory leadership bid

Two more British cabinet ministers have come out in support of Theresa May’s bid to become Tory leader, who has received pledges of support from many more MPs than the other four candidates

Michael Fallon and Patrick McLoughlin joined three other cabinet members who now say they back the home secretary.

Meanwhile, on Friday, fellow contender Michael Gove is to make the first speech of his campaign to become Tory leader, after announcing his candidacy on Thursday.

Rivals Stephen Crabb, Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox are also in the running to lead the Conservative Party and become take over from caretaker prime minister David Cameron.

The five contenders have until Tuesday to build support among the 329 Conservative MPs before the first round of voting. The MP with the fewest votes will be eliminated, one at a time, until two remain. They will then go to a vote of the wider party membership.

The winner of the contest is set to be announced on 9 September.

Gove was a surprise addition to the race, having been expected to back Boris Johnson, who shocked the political world by ruling himself out on Thursday.

The Daily Mail too backed the home secretary with its front page on Friday, saying “a party in flames and why it must be Theresa”.

With “Westminster increasingly resembling a madhouse”, said the paper, “what the country needs most is a solid and steady hand on the tiller.”

Fallon, the defence secretary, said she was the right person to steer the country through “the serious challenges we now face”.

He said: “Theresa is the best person to lead our exit from the EU so that we reduce immigration and regain sovereignty while protecting our hard won economic growth.”

McLoughlin said Mrs May had “the ‘it’ factor”.

“We know that the next prime minister needs to forge a deal from the EU as we shape our brighter future in the rest of the world.

“And her track record shows that when Theresa arrives in Brussels, Europe’s bosses sit up and listen.”