Theresa May casts first vote for successor and ‘backed Jeremy Hunt’
THERESA May swallowed her pride and voted for her successor yesterday – amid claims she decided to back Jeremy Hunt.
After being asked to show her parliamentary pass to prove who she was, Mrs May voted and left the room – telling reporters it was “none of your business” who she backed.
But an MP on Mr Hunt’s campaign said: “We’re confident the PM is backing us.”
And a source close to the PM said: “The only person who knows who she voted for is herself and Philip May, but it was between Jeremy Hunt and Matt Hancock.”
The PM, wearing a long black coat and leopard print kitten heels, cast her vote along with all 313 fellow Tory MPs in a secret ballot in a Parliamentary committee room yesterday morning.
Mr Hunt’s team were also confident they had won the backing of Chancellor Philip Hammond.
He refused to reveal who he had backed, telling reporters as he left the room: “I’m not telling you.”
The Sun can also reveal the PM invited David Davis – one of her fiercest Brexit critics – in to her No10 flat for a private one-to-one drink on Wednesday night.
Mr Davis said he was not lobbying on behalf of leadership contender Dominic Raab, who he voted for in the first ballot yesterday.
Mr Davis was the first minister to quit Mrs May’s Cabinet over Brexit when he walked out over the Chequers deal last July.
Mr Davis was initially turned away from voting in yesterday’s Tory leadership contest because he forgot his ID. The party has introduced voter ID in the leadership election for the first time.
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