Next Prime Minister race: Rishi Sunak sends wife Akshata Murty to serve tea to waiting press

Tory leadership jostling was on full display this afternoon as Boris Johnson teeters on the brink.

With the Prime Minister facing a torrent of Conservative MPs calling for him to go, those hoping to replace him were making themselves visible in a variety of ways.

Some used Parliament’s set-piece occasions while others paraded how they were getting on with their day jobs.

And even the family members of leading Tories were thrust into the spotlight as speculation about who could replace Mr Johnson intensified.

Rishi Sunak’s wife delivers (very expensive) mugs of tea for waiting press

Rishi Sunak, 42, was among the first to thrust the knife into the PM as part of the Tory revolt.

He dramatically quit as Chancellor last night to throw Mr Johnson’s premiership into fresh peril.

And while reporters were camped outside his London home today – hoping for a first appearance from Mr Sunak since his departure from Government – the ex-Chancellor’s wife popped out to offer refreshments.

Akshata Murty, the heiress of an Indian billionaire, was pictured carrying out a tray of hot drinks for waiting members of the press, as well as a bowl of nuts and plate of biscuits.

The billionaire-heiress carefully carried the tray across the cobbles in a black pair of sandals

The mugs being carried by Ms Murty were later revealed to be Emma Lacey products – with each one worth £38

The recent row over Ms Murty’s non-dom tax status was widely viewed as having fatally damaged her husband’s hopes of replacing Boris Johnson

The scene was immediately compared to when Mr Johnson himself delivered a tray of teas for journalists camped outside his Oxfordshire house in 2018

Mary Archer was also famed for bringing cups of tea to waiting press packs during the many scandals afflicting her husband, Sir Jeffrey Archer, in his political career

The mugs being carried by Ms Murty were later revealed to be Emma Lacey products – with each one worth £38. 

The scene was immediately compared to when Mr Johnson himself delivered a tray of teas for journalists camped outside his Oxfordshire house in 2018.

That came when Mr Johnson was facing a controversy by his comparison of Muslim women wearing the burka to letterboxes and bank robbers.

Mary Archer was also famed for bringing cups of tea to waiting press packs gathered outside her Cambridgeshire home during the many scandals afflicting her husband, Sir Jeffrey Archer, in his political career.

The recent row over Ms Murty’s non-dom tax status was widely viewed as having fatally damaged her husband’s hopes of replacing Mr Johnson.

But the decision by Mr Sunak, who has two daughters with Ms Murty, to quit the Cabinet – within minutes of Sajid Javid’s exit as health secretary – may have helped revive his fortunes among some Tory MPs. 

Tom Tugendhat moves on from dad duties to grilling PM 

Tom Tugendhat has been touted as potential leadership candidate and had the chance to quiz the PM in person today.

As Mr Johnson appeared before the powerful Liaison Committee – formed of the chairs of all other Commons committees – Mr Tugendhat quizzed the PM about whether he was currently able to ‘concentrate’ on British support for Ukraine.

Mr Tugendhat, 49, the chair of the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee, also asked Mr Johnson what he viewed as victory for Ukraine.

The PM replied: ‘That is for them to decide. President Zelensky has set out his ambitions. It will ultimately be for him to decide what the terms that he wants.

‘But he has been very clear that he would like to return at least to the status quo ante February 24th.’

Tom Tugendhat – a former soldier who has not ruled out a Tory leadership bid – began his day by sharing his attempts in doing his daughter’s hair

Mr Tugendhat spent their afternoon grilling the PM during his appearance at the Commons’ Liaison Committee

The PM is teetering on the brink as he faces a torrent of Conservative MPs calling for him to resign and leave Downing Street

Mr Tugendhat – a former soldier who has not ruled out a Tory leadership bid – began his day by sharing his attempts in doing his daughter’s hair.

Despite declaring himself as ‘quite pleased’ with his efforts, the father-of-two revealed on Twitter how he had been told: ‘You’re not good at this.’

Some MPs believe the 48-year-old, an Army reservist who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, would be well-suited to the role and represents the ‘best chance for a fresh start’.

However, some are concerned about his lack of political experience and voting for a second posh PM in a row. He is the son of a high court judge and the nephew of a Tory peer.

He was a member of the Territorial Army when the Iraq War broke out in 2003 and he was mobilised as an Arabic-speaking intelligence officer to serve with the Royal Marines. He went into Iraq as part of Operation TELIC – the initial invasion.

After the war he returned to a job in the City of London but then went back to Iraq to help with the economic reconstruction of the country.

In 2006 the Foreign Office then asked Mr Tugendhat to go to Afghanistan to help grow its national security council. The Tory MP can speak Arabic, Dari and French.

The Tory MP was applauded in the House of Commons during a debate on the UK’s exit from Afghanistan in August 2021 as he detailed his experience in the country.

While ‘hero MP’ Tobias Ellwood ‘stages his own leadership hustings’ 

Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood who also chairs an influential Commons committee has been put forward as a possible replacement leader.

Mr Ellwood, 55, who received widespread praise for his efforts in trying to save fallen PC Keith Palmer during the Westminster terror attack in 2017, also grilled the PM during his Liaison Committee appearance.

The former minister, now the chair of the Commons’ Defence Committee, pressed Mr Johnson over defence spending commitments as he urged the PM to ‘invest more’. 

He demanded Mr Johnson reconsider a shrinking of the size of the Army.

Mr Ellwood received widespread praise for his efforts in trying to save fallen PC Keith Palmer during the Westminster terror attack in 2017

MP Tobias Ellwood and Mr Tugendhat also sternly questioned the PM during his appearance at the Commons’ Liaison Committee this afternoon

Mr Ellwood and his wife, solicitor Hannah Ryan, live in the MP’s Bournemouth constituency with their two sons

Following his comments, Isabel Hardman – assistant editor of the Spectator, which is often branded the Tory party’s ‘in-house magazine’ – drily noted: ‘Tobias Ellwood seems to have mistaken this Liaison Committee meeting for a leadership hustings and has come with a speech about Britain’s place in the world.’

Mr Ellwood and his wife, solicitor Hannah Ryan, live in the MP’s Bournemouth constituency with their two sons.

However Mr Ellwood, a Remainer, may faces internal challenges if he tries to become leader having recently called for the UK to rejoin the EU single market.

In an article published last month, titled ‘We can upgrade Brexit and ease the cost of living by going back to the single market’, he argued exports to Europe had shrunk by £20bn and the issue of the Northern Ireland protocol remained unresolved.

He said: ‘All these challenges would disappear if we dare to advance our Brexit model by rejoining the EU single market (the Norway model).’

Sajid Javid blasts PM in farewell speech and hints at beginning of his own leadership campaign

Earlier in the day, Mr Javid, 52, took the opportunity of his resignation speech in the Commons chamber to outline what might be the beginnings of his own leadership campaign.

The now former health secretary – who competed against Mr Johnson in the 2019 Tory leadership contest – told MPs: ‘I got into politics to do something, not to be somebody.

‘So it is hard in one way, but not in another. Being a good father, a husband, a son and a citizen is good enough for me.

‘If I can continue to contribute to public life and my party from the back benches it will be a privilege to do so.’

He also launched a broadside at the PM as he publicly questioned Mr Johnson’s ‘integrity’, adding: ‘A team is as good as its team captain, and a captain is as good as his or her team. So loyalty must go both ways.

‘The events of recent months have made it increasingly difficult to be in that team.’

Mr Javid, who has now resigned from the Cabinet twice in the space of two-and-a-half years, insisted he had ‘never been one of life’s quitters’.

‘I didn’t quit when people in my community told me I couldn’t marry the love of my life,’ he told MPs in reference to his wife, Laura.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss revealed how she had spent the day ratifying Finland and Sweden’s formal applications to join NATO

Ms Truss is married to accountant Hugh O’Leary. The couple have two teenage daughters, Liberty and Frances

Mr Johnson’s long-time leadership rival Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary, spent the day highlighting his efforts as MP for South West Surrey

Mr Hunt, pictured with his wife Lucia, went head-to-head with Mr Johnson in the final round of the 2019 Tory leadership contest

Liz Truss and Jeremy Hunt concentrate on their day jobs as they wait in the wings 

Away from Parliament, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss used her frequently updated social media accounts to reveal how she had spent the day ratifying Finland and Sweden’s formal applications to join NATO.

Ms Truss, 46, was later set to fly away from the dramatic events at Westminster as she is due to attend a G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, later this week.

She is married to accountant Hugh O’Leary and the couple have two teenage daughters, Liberty and Frances.

Mr Johnson’s long-time leadership rival Jeremy Hunt, 55, the former health secretary, spent the day highlighting his efforts as MP for South West Surrey.

He only made a passing reference to ‘other events’ at Westminster as he publicised his meeting with NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard about a new cancer surgery centre at a local hospital.

Mr Hunt went head-to-head with Mr Johnson in the final round of the 2019 Tory leadership contest and has not ruled out another bid for the top job in his recent efforts to topple the PM.