Foreign Secretary Liz Truss wins backing of former Tory vice chairman Shelbrooke in Conservative Party leadership race

Alec Shelbrooke, MP for the Elmet and Rothwell constituency and a former vice chairman of the party, used an appearance on GB News to sing the praises of Leeds-educated Ms Truss.

He said: “I'll be absolutely straight up and honestly on air right now. I'm going to be backing Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary.

“I think she's got huge amounts of experience, she's really leading the world on the foreign stage where our country is at the forefront of so many important international issues.

“She's been a trade secretary who delivered a lot of trade deals, she helped steer through the Northern Ireland protocol, which was no easy thing.”

With no clear frontrunner to succeed Boris Johnson, around a dozen potential candidates - including backbenchers as well as ministers - are thought to be weighing a challenge.

Among the early favourites are former chancellor Rishi Sunak, who quit on Tuesday helping to trigger a slew of ministerial resignations, and the man who succeeded him, Nadhim Zahawi.

Ms Truss, who was returning early from an international gathering in Indonesia, and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace are both thought to have significant support.

Other ministers considering a run include Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Attorney General Suella Braverman and the Cabinet Office Minister Penny Mordaunt.

From outside the Government, former health secretary Sajid Javid, who also quit on Tuesday; Jeremy Hunt, who was runner-up to Mr Johnson in 2019, and arch Brexiteer Steve Baker may also stand.

After Mr Johnson's resignation speech on Thursday, Ms Truss tweeted: "The PM has made the right decision. The Government under Boris's leadership had many achievements - delivering Brexit, vaccines and backing Ukraine. We need calmness and unity now and to keep governing while a new leader is found."

Born in Oxford, Ms Truss moved to Scotland with her family at the age of four but returned to England as a teenager and studied at Roundhay School in Leeds.

She attended Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics and joined the Conservative Party in 1996, becoming the MP for South West Norfolk in 2010 after working in sales and as an economist.

Ms Truss was first appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2014.

She has since held a number of key roles including Secretary of State for Justice, Lord Chancellor, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, International Trade Secretary and President of the Board of Trade.

She took over the position of Foreign Secretary from Dominic Raab during a reshuffle in 2021.

Mr Shelbrooke told GB News: “When I look at what we need to do to help deliver the manifesto get some of the Brexit benefits that were in the manifesto, look at how we level up, and levelling up is not just about money, levelling up is about giving opportunity, and I think there are opportunities to be gained.

“I actually, from my point of view, think that the Foreign Secretary just is going to be the best person to deliver that.”