Tory leadership vote: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt face back-to-back grilling in BBC interviews tonight

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt
Henry Nicholls/Reuters
James Morris12 July 2019
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Tory leadership contenders Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt are set for a grilling by the BBC's Andrew Neil 10 days before the ballot closes.

Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt will appear in pre-recorded interviews with presenter Mr Neil, which will be broadcast at 7pm on BBC One.

The programme will consist of two consecutive interviews lasting half an hour each.

It comes as the corporation reported that the number of ballots returned to the party is “well under” 50 per cent.

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This would defy a popular narrative that the majority of Conservative members would make their decision within days of the ballots arriving in their homes – something that was expected to benefit clear frontrunner Mr Johnson as it would leave Mr Hunt with limited time to change voters’ minds.

The interviews come as MPs were reported to be plotting a “sit-in” if Mr Johnson tries to shut down Parliament in order to force through a no-deal Brexit.

HuffPost reported Chancellor Philip Hammond, a Europhile who is strongly opposed to no-deal and is likely to be sacked if Mr Johnson wins the leadership contest, will be among the rebels.

But Mr Johnson appeared increasingly confident MPs will not block no-deal after Cabinet minister Amber Rudd, another arch-Europhile who was reportedly set to quit over the matter in January, said it had to remain in the "armoury" of the new prime minister.

Mr Johnson has insisted he wants a deal with Brussels but is prepared to walk away on October 31 without one if necessary.

He highlighted the comments from Ms Rudd, one of the leading figures in the 2016 Remain campaign and a supporter of Jeremy Hunt's leadership bid.

The work and pensions secretary told TalkRadio in comments widely seen as a job application for a place in Mr Johnson’s administration: "Both candidates have said that no deal is part of the armoury and the negotiations going forward and I have accepted that.

“The situation is that we are leaving by the end of October, but it would be so much better to get a deal.”

Boris Johnson speaks at a hustings event
REUTERS

Mr Johnson said: "I saw Amber saying something rather commonsensical today about having no-deal as part of our armoury.

"That's been government policy as far as I can remember for the last three years."

Meanwhile, Theresa May has hit out at those who mocked her tears on the steps of Number 10, saying if a male Prime Minister wept they would be hailed a patriot.

The outgoing Prime Minister was tearful as she announced in May that she would stand down when her successor - either Mr Johnson or Mr Hunt – is chosen.

Tory leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt speaks at a hustings event
REUTERS

In her address, she described the job as “the honour of my life to hold – the second female Prime minister but certainly not the last." Mrs May said she was leaving with “enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love”.

Discussing the moment she crumbled saying those words on the steps of 10, Downing Street, Mrs May told the Daily Mail: “If a male Prime Minister’s voice had broken up, it would have been said ‘what great patriotism, they really love their country’. But if a female Prime Minister does it, it is: ‘Why is she crying?’”

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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