‘Some ministers don’t have the luxury of walking out’: Ben Wallace backs Liz Truss with furious blast at ‘slick salesman’ rival Rishi Sunak for ‘triggering’ the end of Boris Johnson’s government when he quit as chancellor

• The Defence Secretary has backed Liz Truss to become Prime Minister
• His endorsement is a major coup as Mr Wallace has been touted as a ‘kingmaker’
• He launched a scathing attack on rival Rishi Sunak for walking out as Chancellor 

Cabinet minister Ben Wallace has delivered a possibly fatal blow to Rishi Sunak’s hopes of becoming prime minister by backing rival Liz Truss and castigating him for walking out on Boris Johnson’s Government.

The Defence Secretary is hugely popular with Tory members who will vote for the next party leader and was tipped to run himself.

But after ruling himself out he finally went public to back the Foreign Secretary last night, after she had smoothly got through the first of 12 members’ hustings.

In contrast, Mr Sunak was attacked by one member for his role in ‘stabbing Boris Johnson in the back’, in the question and answer session. 

Mr Wallace, a former soldier, said she was ‘authentic, honest and experienced’ with the ‘integrity’ for the top job. He also said he was swung by her plan to increase defence spending.

But in an interview with the Sun and writing in the Times he laid into the former Chancellor, echoing supporter of Mr Johnson by suggesting he was pivotal in the PM’s downfall.

And speaking to Sky News today he said: ‘Some ministers don’t have the luxury of walking out. If you actually look at that article, I was asked why I didn’t resign. And I said some ministers don’t have the luxury of resigning because, fundamentally, we have duties and obligations.’

Mr Wallace finally went public to back the Foreign Secretary last night, after she had smoothly got through the first of 12 members’ hustings. 

The Defence Secretary is hugely popular with Tory members who will vote for the next party leader and was tipped to run himself.

The Defence Secretary described the Foreign Secretary as ‘authentic, honest and experienced’

Mr Wallace hit out at the former Chancellor, questioning what would have happened if the markets crashed on the day he quit his role

Asked if he would have liked to resign, he said ‘no’, adding: ‘But I also made clear, and I made a tweet at the time for those colleagues who do want to express confidence in the Government, there’s a very simple way of doing that.

‘There was going to be a 1922 committee on the Monday the next week, a couple of days after Rishi resigned, and they could have done it that way. They could have voted the Prime Minister through confidence in the party.’

He added: ‘I just don’t think triggering Cabinet ministers walking out at a time of a crisis is the right course of action. ‘There were other mechanisms to do what they wanted. If Rishi Sunak didn’t want the Prime Minister to be Prime Minister, there are other mechanisms to do that. And that goes for all the other ministers.’

Explaining why he decided to back Ms Truss, Ben Wallace told Sky: ‘I thought what I would do at the beginning of this contest is stand back.

‘I am the Secretary of State for Defence, I want to find a candidate that’s going to do right by the department and recognise that the threats we face every day are very real and are growing and that they need to be funded properly.

‘We can’t just sort of pretend they will go away by themselves.

‘So you know, I looked at their performances. I looked at them on the hustings, but I also know them both. I’ve been in Cabinet for two years with both the Chancellor and indeed Liz Truss. And so, you know, it was important for me to work out who was the right person to take us forward. So, you know, I know Liz, she’s very straight. She’s authentic, what you see is what you get, but also she has been very consistent in her support for defence and security. She reads the same intelligence reports I do.

‘I felt it was the right person to back.’

Wallace pulled out of the running to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, despite having been the bookmakers’ favourite to win.

The politician, 52, had topped a YouGov poll of potential runners to take over as Conservative Party leader and had put a campaign team together. 

But he announced on Twitter that he will not take part in the race, days after Boris Johnson announced his resignation.

Mr Wallace said on Twitter: ‘After careful consideration and discussing with colleagues and family, I have taken the decision not to enter the contest for leadership of the Conservative Party.’

He added that it had not been an ‘easy’ choice to make, but said his focus is on his role as Defence Secretary and ‘keeping this great country safe’.

After the announcement, Wallace was said to be a ‘kingmaker’ in the Tory leadership race, but was said to be ‘waiting until the final stages to announce who he is backing’ to become Prime Minister.

A friend of Mr Wallace told The Times at the time that he is a ‘kingmaker’ in the race due to his grassroots popularity in the party.

The endorsement came after the candidates were quizzed separately on a vast array of policy areas – as well as their predictions for the Women’s Euro 2022 final – as they sought to woo northern voters in the race for the top job.

Liz Truss looked to have increased her chances of beating Rishi Sunak and becoming prime minister tonight after coming out on top as they were grilled by Tory members for the first time.

The Foreign Secretary was more relaxed that previous slightly wooden outings in the campaign as she played up her local roots in her home city of Leeds.

She joked about her time in the city before vowing to beat ‘patronising, plastic patriot’ Keir Starmer at the next election if she becomes Prime Minister.

She was also applauded for saying she was proud to have worked for Boris Johnson – and for backing gender-specific toilets.

In contrast Mr Sunak faced some difficult questions over his role in Mr Johnson’s political demise. One party member told him that ‘many people think you stabbed him in the back’, adding: ‘I’m not entirely sure what planet you are on.’

Parts of the audience at the Conservative Party hustings clapped when host Nick Ferrari mentioned support for Boris Johnson to be included on the ballot.

The LBC presenter referenced reports that around 14,000 members of the Conservative Party wanted Mr Johnson’s name on the ballot, pausing as clapping and some cheers were audible from some in the audience.

Asked what he would say to those members, Mr Sunak said: ‘Whether he’s on the ballot or not, ultimately you need to be able to command the confidence of your MPs in Parliament, and we got to a point where close to 60 of them had resigned from Government.’

He also said he would not give outgoing PM Boris Johnson a job in his Cabinet, but vowed to back the return of grammar schools. 

Under questioning, Ms Truss played up her loyalty to Mr Johnson, saying she had been ‘proud’ to work for him and had ‘always been a fan’.

The hustings was the first of 12 allowing party faithful across the country to quiz the final two candidates before voting for the next party leader and prime minister closes on September 2. 

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