Boris Johnson news – live: Sunak supporters cast doubt over rival’s MP numbers as pair hold talks

Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt is the only candidate to have declared that she’s officially running to become PM.

She has 21 endorsements from her fellow Tory MPs.

Meanwhile, far ahead of her, are former chancellor Rishi Sunak, with 113 MPs backing him, and former PM Boris Johnson, with 44 nominations – according to a tally by PA.

Neither Mr Sunak nor Mr Johnson has officially declared that they’re in the race, despite the amount of support they’ve received.

They both held talks on Saturday night on the possibility of standing in the leadership contest on a joint ticket.

Tory MPs will vote on Monday, and two candidates will be put forward to the party membership unless one pulls out, with a result being announced on Friday.

Candidates have until 2pm on Monday to secure the 100 nominations, limiting the ballot to a maximum of three candidates.

Boris Johnson loyalist Nadine Dorries has warned that Rishi Sunak as PM would be “potentially dangerous” for the Conservative Party.

Former PM Mr Johnson has received the backing of 100 MPs – including six cabinet ministers – to return to Downing Street following Liz Truss’ resignation.

Ex-culture secretary Nadine Dorries, said in a contest between Mr Johnson and former chancellor Mr Sunak “only Boris is a proven winner”.

She added that if Mr Sunak was chosen, “we would enter unchartered and potentially dangerous waters”.

Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Ms Dorries added: “Any Tory MP who votes for Rishi Sunak tomorrow will be taking a risk with the future of the party.

“If he is chosen, power would be transferred out of the hands of the people who exercised their choice at the ballot box less than three years ago and placed into their own very privileged and already powerful hands.

“That would be an untenable and undemocratic position for us to be in. If that happens, I have no idea how we would be able to look voters in the eye and deny them a General Election that Labour is screaming out for…

“A Tory Party led into the next Election by anyone other than Boris Johnson would mean the country would be looking into the face of a Socialist government.”

The race to decide Britain’s third prime minister in as many months dominated Sunday’s newspapers.

The Independent reports on questions over the claims, made by Boris Johnson’s supporters, that he has secured the 100 signatures from Tory MPs he needs to enter the race.

The Sunday Express cheered Mr Johnson’s decision to cut short his holiday and race back to Britain’s shores, splashing the headline “Boris is back!”.

But The Sunday Times was less supportive, reporting that the ex-PM has been spurned by the so-called “Tory right” while Rishi Sunak’s own support surges.

A frantic campaign by senior Tories to stop Mr Johnson’s dramatic comeback was spotlighted by The Observer, with claims he would cause further economic damage and risk “the end of the Conservative party”.

The Sun on Sunday and The Sunday Telegraph lead with the news that Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak were “locked in talks” late into the night amid urging from within their party for them to strike a deal to avert a “Conservative civil war”.

Read the full reportage here:

Boris Johnson was locked in talks with Rishi Sunak on Saturday evening to strike a deal so the Tory party can avoid a potentially damaging leadership skirmish to replace Liz Truss.

Mr Johnson was trying to persuade his former chancellor that he should return to No 10 and that Mr Sunak will secure a top job if he is successful, the Mail on Sunday reported.

The former prime minister arrived at Gatwick Airport on Saturday morning with his family after breaking off a holiday in the Dominican Republic in the wake of Ms Truss’s dramatic resignation on Thursday.

Read the full story here:

Thousands of protesters have marched through central London calling for the UK to rejoin the EU.

The National Rejoin March on Saturday saw large crowds of people walk from Park Lane to Parliament Square. Marchers from across the UK travelled for hours to attend.

Parliament Square Garden, the last stop on the march for the rally, saw a sea of blue and yellow as supporters waved EU flags and carried placards.

LBC host Sangita Myska was left stunned after a caller said that Rishi Sunak “isn’t even British”.

The caller, who claimed to be a Tory party member, said the former chancellor had “American allegiances”, before Ms Myska stated that Mr Sunak was born in the UK.

Mr Sunak has reportedly already met the 100 Tory MP backers required to stand in the latest Conservative leadership contest, with a new prime minister expected to be in place by Friday (28 October).

This comes as his expected bid for No 10 has gained some mileage with Boris Johnson backers challenged over claims that he has reached the number required to secure a spot on the Tory ballot paper.

Ms Badenoch admitted she had “on occasion” been a member of “the Boris Johnson fan club”, but she said the Tories are not “organising a popularity contest”, and stressed the party is “not a vehicle for any one individual’s personal ambitions”.

Read the full story here:

Supporters of Rishi Sunak have warned of a “constitutional crisis” if Boris Johnson is elected by Tory members in the face of opposition from the party’s MPs.

The former PM may find himself faced with a boycott of his government by MPs along the lines of the mass resignation that forced his departure in July, said one minister, who warned that Mr Johnson would not last until 2023. The warning came after the Johnson camp claimed to have secured the promise of the 100 MPs’ signatures he needs to enter the race.

But the claim was greeted with scepticism, with one Sunak supporter challenging him to “prove it” and another saying the hidden army of backers “don’t exist”