LIZ TRUSS’S campaign for the Tory leadership has claimed that there could be an “exodus” of MPs from the camp of her rival Rishi Sunak following the defection of a former minister. 

Tory MP Chris Skidmore announced that he was switching sides to support the Foreign Secretary in an article in the Telegraph on Tuesday. 

Explaining his decision, Mr Skidmore wrote that he had become increasingly concerned at the former chancellor’s “consistently changing position, especially on the economy, to chase votes.”

Former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, who is backing Mr Sunak, sought to play down the defection, saying that MPs “inevitably change their mind during these contests.”

However, a Truss campaign spokesperson claimed today that the Foreign Secretary’s supporters were in talks with other potential defectors from Mr Sunak’s camp. 

“Chris coming over could trigger a bigger exodus of MPs from Sunak to us,” the spokesperson said, adding: “Rishi’s flip-flopping on the economy is clearly upsetting a lot of his backers.”

After pledging not to implement immediate tax cuts, Mr Sunak backtracked last month, saying that he would scrap VAT on energy bills if elected leader. 

However, both candidates have made several U-turns during the bitter leadership contest, with Ms Truss dropping plans to axe tens of thousands of civil servants within 12 hours of announcing the policy. 
 
The blue-on-blue attacks have intensified in recent days, with Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, who supports Mr Sunak, branding Ms Truss’s tax-cutting plans an “electoral suicide note.”