'A good salesman... stabbed the PM in the back' but you

Sunak accused of betraying Johnson at leadership hustings

- ANDREW WOODCOCK, COLIN DRURY

Meanwhile, Ben Wallace has backed Ms Truss in the Tory leadership race and criticised Mr Sunak for “walking out the door” of Boris Johnson's cabinet.

He wrote in The Times Ms Truss was “a winner not because she’s a slick salesperson but because she is authentic”.

Mr Wallace hit out at the former chancellor, questioning what would have happened if the markets crashed on the day he quit his role, according to The Sun.

“I don’t have the luxury as defence secretary of just walking out the door – I have roles in keeping this country safe,” he told the paper.

“And the guardian of the markets, you know, the guardian of our economy, is the chancellor.”

Rishi Sunak faced accusations he "stabbed Boris Johnson in the back" as he addressed grassroots Conservatives in the first member hustings in the race to replace the prime minister. 

There was applause from the crowd of more than 1,000 Tories at the suggestion Mr Johnson should be on the ballot paper alongside his former chancellor and his rival Liz Truss.

But Mr Sunak denied he had betrayed the PM while being grilled at the event in Leeds. Rather, he said he resigned because of differences in economic policy.

Taking questions separately on stage at the city’s Centenary Pavilion, both Mr Sunak and Ms Truss named Margaret Thatcher as their favourite prime minister.

But taking inspiration from the surroundings – next door to Elland Road, the home of Leeds United Football Club – Ms Truss also named another divisive 1970s figure as a guiding light: she said she would govern “in the spirit of Don Revie”.