Labour accuses Truss and Sunak of being “stooges of the Johnson administration”

Labour’s Conor McGinn has accused Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak of being “stooges of the Johnson administration” after the pair were confirmed as the final candidates in the contest to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

The Foreign Secretary and the former Chancellor were selected as the final two candidates to be the next Tory Party leader in a fifth round of voting by their Conservative parliamentary colleagues earlier this afternoon.

Commenting on the result, the shadow minister without portfolio said: “The choice to be the next Tory leader is down to the two continuity candidates. Both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are stooges of the Johnson administration whose fingerprints are all over the state the country finds itself in today.

“Both are now desperately trying to distance themselves from the Tory record of the last 12 years. But both have backed every decision, including every one of Boris Johnson’s 15 tax rises.

“Rather than plans to tackle the Tory cost-of-living crisis or grow Britain’s economy, they are simply offering the fantasy economics of unfunded giveaways. Neither offers working people anything except more of the same.

“Whichever one of these continuity candidates wins, one thing is clear: the more time we give the Tories, the more damage they will do. Only Labour can provide the fresh start the country needs.”

As in previous rounds of voting by Tory MPs, Sunak topped the ballot on Wednesday, receiving 137 votes. Truss was backed by 113 MPs, ahead of Penny Mordaunt who was eliminated after receiving 105 votes.

The next stage of the leadership contest will see the two remaining candidates put to a ballot of the Conservative Party membership after a series of hustings around the country. The BBC will broadcast a debate on Monday.

The first hustings with Conservative members will reportedly take place on Thursday in the North of England, with two such events expected to take place each week throughout the rest of the campaign.

Boris Johnson announced that he was resigning as leader of the Conservative Party earlier this month, though he confirmed that he would remain as Prime Minister until a party new leader had been elected.

Commenting at the time, Keir Starmer said: “It is good news for the country that Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister. But it should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale.”

The Labour leader added: “All those who have been complicit should be utterly ashamed. The Tory Party have inflicted chaos upon the country during the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. And they cannot now pretend they are the ones to sort it out.

“They have been in power for 12 years. The damage they have done is profound. 12 years of economic stagnation. 12 years of declining public services. 12 years of empty promises. Enough is enough. We don’t need to change the Tory at the top – we need a proper change of government.”