A local Conservative MP has accused Rishi Sunak of ‘breaking our manifesto promise’ as he calls for colleagues to back Lizz Truss in the leadership race. 

Wokingham MP John Redwood slammed the former chancellor for his decision to increase national insurance, where contributions have gone up by 1.25 pence in the pound, saying he wants to “tax us into recession”. 

He called on colleagues to “switch their vote” from Mr Sunak to another candidate, the current Foreign Secretary Lizz Truss, as the contender for the next Prime Minister is whittled down to the final two today. 

“Liz [Truss] wants a growth policy with lower taxes,” he added. 

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In contrast, Citigroup, an investment banking company, has said Ms Truss’s economic plan is “concerning” during an assessment of the Tory candidates’ pitches. 

Citigroup’s chief UK economist, Ben Nabarro, said: “Truss’s policy platform still poses the greatest risk from an economic perspective in our view, with an unseemly combination of pro-cyclical tax cuts and institutional disruption.” 

Mr Redwood further criticised the leadership hopeful as he “backed creating too much money” which he says has led to higher inflation. 

“The Bank and Treasury stopped printing the money that cause[d] the inflation late last year. UK Inflation will fall next year. 

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“Wages are rising much [slower] than prices, meaning inflation is not embedding. No need to make people even worse off with higher mortgage rates and a recession,” he added. 

Mr Sunak said it is a case of “when, not if” he would lower taxes but referred to the other candidate’s promises of cuts now as “fairy tales”. 

Just three candidates remain from the original field of 11, with Mr Sunak, Ms Truss and Penny Mordaunt set to battle it out for a spot in the final two today after Kemi Badenoch was eliminated yesterday. 

Conservative MPs will this afternoon participate in the final round of voting between 1pm and 3pm, ahead of a result being announced at 4pm.

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Mr Sunak is the current front runner amongst MPs with 118 votes, as Ms Mordaunt and Ms Truss fight it out for second place going into the final round, where a postal ballot will be completed by roughly 160,000 Conservative party members. 

Whilst popular with MPs, there is reason for Mr Sunak to be wary ahead of the final voting round. A YouGov survey of 725 party members completed this week indicates that he would lose to both other remaining candidates in a head-to-head. 

The poll reveals that Ms Mordaunt would beat Mr Sunak by 51 per cent to 37 percent and Ms Truss beating him by 54 per cent to 35 per cent. 

The results will be announced on September 5, with the winner taking over from Boris Johnson as Prime Minister the next day.