British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former finance minister Rishi Sunak held their first clash in front of Tory members on Thursday.
Rather than squaring off at lecterns from opposite ends of a TV studio, the candidates went on stage one after the other and faced plenty of hard-nosed questioning from Conservatives.
Both contenders visited their individual seats as they wage a bitter duel to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
While Truss said her Yorkshire upbringing had given her grit and determination, Sunak denounced her “fairy tale economics”.
Accepting that he is the “underdog” in the contest, Sunak vowed to curb inflation and resist China’s increasingly authoritarian rise.
Hitting back at Sunak for his expensive tastes in fashion, Truss said they revealed he is out of touch with the ordinary public in hard times.
It comes after Johnson assured Britons that there would be a seamless transition to the next prime minister after a Conservative leadership election to replace him.
Tory members, who will cast their votes in the coming weeks to appoint the new Conservative leader and successor to Boris Johnson, do not want to hand the keys to Number 10 Downing Street to Sunak as per experts.
Tired of the chaos wrought by the Johnson administration and a bitter leadership contest, a majority of Tories want their next leader to bring stability.
According to YouGov, Truss is ahead of Sunak in opinion polls by 24 points as people believe that has the experience and should be able to take the tough decisions to steer Britain’s economy through difficult times.
If Truss defeats Sunak, she will become the country’s third woman prime minister after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May. But if Sunak beats Truss, he will be Britain’s first leader of Indian origin.
(With inputs from agencies)
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