SKIPTON MP Julian Smith appears to be backing former chancellor Rishi Sunak in the race to become leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister.
Mr Smith yesterday tweeted a link to an article in The Times newspaper by former leader of the Conservative Party, William Hague, in which Mr Hague describes Rishi Sunak as the 'stand-out candidate'.
In the article headed "Spot on Rishi Sunak has what it takes to succeed in No 10", Mr Hague, who preceded Mr Sunak in his Richmond constituency, says the former chancellor's 'reputation in Yorkshire shows he is an effective leader who can win hearts and get the job done'.
Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordant, Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch are the final four candidates bidding to replace Boris Johnson.
Tory MPs will vote again today (Tuesday) after which the candidate with the lowest number of votes will leave the contest.
Voting will continue until there are just two candidates left. A new prime minister will be announced on September 5, after a postal ballot over the summer by the Conservative Party's 200,000 members.
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