Conservative revivals are set to go head-to-head in the second live debate on ITV this evening.
The hour-long debate will take place at ITV’s White City studios, with all five candidates taking part.
After eleven candidates announced leadership bids, only five remain: Kemi Badenoch, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Tom Tugendhat.
The debate comes as Penny Mordaunt has today admitted that her plans to cut taxes will lead to increased government borrowing and has hit out at “smears” against her leadership campaign, just hours before the leadership debate.
Ms Mordaunt said her proposals to halve VAT on petrol and raise tax thresholds represented a “modest” set of changes to help people struggling with the rising cost of living.
“We need to demonstrate that there is some immediate targeted support going to people. We would have to adjust our tax forecasts but this is absolutely necessary, I think,” she told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme.
