Priti Patel and Michael Gove both back Rishi Sunak for PM

Priti Patel and Michael Gove have come out in support of Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader, as the former chancellor hopes to be declared the next prime minister within hours.

The former home secretary – who declared she was backing Boris Johnson at the weekend – said she was switching support after the ex-PM pulled out of the race on Sunday night.

“In these difficult times for our country we must unite by putting public service first and work together … With the enormous challenges upon us we must put political differences aside to give Rishi Sunak the best chance of succeeding,” Ms Patel tweeted.

She becomes the latest senior figure to make a dramatic U-turn. On Saturday, Ms Patel had claimed Mr Johnson was the candidate with “the mandate to deliver our elected manifesto”.

Cabinet Office minister Nadhim Zahawi has been mocked for switching his support to Mr Sunak, only minutes after a piece he wrote for The Telegraph backing “Boris 2.0”.

Former minister Michael Gove also backed Mr Sunak on Monday morning, calling for Tories to unite behind him. “There are big challenges ahead and the national interest requires us to show resolution and fortitude under new leadership,” he tweeted.

Mr Sunak will take charge of the party without the need for any vote from Tory MPs or members if Penny Mordaunt falls short of the threshold by the 2pm deadline, or pulls out of the contest.

Ms Mordaunt and her team are “confident” she will get the 100 nominations needed from Tory MPs before the Monday deadline, a senior backer has said.

Ms Mordaunt has only 25 public backers so far, but senior Tory MP Damian Green claimed she had support from a far higher number – insisting she has support from “all wings of the party”.

“We’re confident Penny will get above the 100 mark,” Mr Green said. “There were a lot of people who weren’t declaring publicly what they were doing. Penny’s numbers are well above the published figures already, even without any of Boris supporters.”

Boris Johnson loyalist Nadine Dorries said it will be “impossible” to avoid a general election after her former boss pulled out of the Tory leadership contest.

The former culture secretary – the uber Johnson loyalist – also warned that “all hell would break” lose if favourite Rishi Sunak is installed at No 10 in the coming hours.

Sir Christopher Chope, another Johnson loyalist, called for a general election – saying the party was becoming “ungovernable”.

But key Sunak backer Grant Shapps, the home secretary, insisted there was no need for a general election. “We elect a party and we elect individuals,” he told Sky News.

Mr Shapps admitted it was “unusual” to have three prime ministers in as many months, but claimed Mr Sunak had a legitimate mandate to deliver the 2019 Tory manifesto.

And Scottish Tory MP Andrew Bowie, backing Mr Sunak, said a general election this autumn would not be in the national interest.

Speaking on BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland, Mr Bowie said: “A general election – even for a snap general election – by law necessitates six weeks of campaigning. That is six weeks when parliament isn’t sitting and six weeks where government isn’t getting down to business.”

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