Nicola Richards MP backs Brexiteer Penny Mordaunt to succeed Boris
Black Country MP Nicola Richards has suggested she is backing Penny Mordaunt in the Tory leadership race.
The West Bromwich East MP said the trade minister and staunch Brexiteer was "exactly what the party and the country needs" as a successor to Boris Johnson.
Ms Mordaunt – who is yet to officially announce she is standing – came out as the best potential leadership candidate in a poll by the Young Conservatives Network.
Ms Richards said: "It doesn’t surprise me that other young Conservatives are hoping Penny Mordaunt stands - she’s exactly what the party and the country needs."
Ms Mordaunt, MP for Portsmouth, served in the administrations of David Cameron and Theresa May.
She was the first female Defence Secretary before being sacked by Mr Johnson. She went on to become paymaster general and is currently a trade minister.
She is a member of the Royal Navy Reserves and played a major role in the Leave campaign ahead of the EU referendum in 2016,
Ms Richards quit her assistant ministerial role on Tuesday and turned against Mr Johnson, saying she did not want to be associated with the "poor judgment" of his administration.
