Penny Mordaunt has been having “detailed discussions” with a number of senior right-wingers about succession if Rishi Sunak is toppled, it has been claimed.
The Commons Leader, widely tipped as a key contender in any future leadership race, has been talking to MPs about their demands in return for support.
Toughening up her approach to trans rights is one of the key discussions after concerns in the past over her comments that trans women – biological men – are women.
Ms Mordaunt, who has a higher public profile than many of her colleagues after the key role she played in the King’s coronation, is said to be at risk of losing her Portsmouth North seat at the general election.
A source said that means she is open to replacing the Prime Minister if he faces a challenge after the local elections and is looking to talk to MPs from all wings of the party, including the One Nation group of centrists.
The insider added: “Penny has proved she is good at coronations.”
Ms Mordaunt has explicitly denied being involved in any plot to oust the PM and said at the weekend insisted she is fully behind his premiership.
An ally said: “It’s total hooey. Penny’s getting on with the job, has been out supporting local candidates this week and is focussing on returning our candidates at the local elections.”
Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who has one of the few remaining safe seats, is also tipped as a future Tory leader but is expected to wait until after the general election to make any move.
“Kemi would rather wait to inherit a burning party. But when there is an iceberg ahead and you are safe in your lifeboat it is easy to wait rather than try to make changes to avert a disaster,” the source added.
One veteran Conservative MP said the next leadership election “will be Kemi’s to lose, but if anyone can lose it, it’s Kemi”.
Mr Sunak is facing a brutal 72 hours as the results of council elections in England and Wales, along with eleven mayoralties and police and crime commissioner votes drip out from the early hours of Friday until the final counts are returned on Sunday.
All eyes are on Ben Houchen in Tees Valley, who was reelected in 2021 with an astonishing 72.8% of the vote in the authority that represents 670,000 people.
Boris Johnson issued a rallying cry for voters to back Lord Houchen, insisting “he’s a guy who does what he says he’s going to do”.
The former prime minister also endorsed West Midlands mayor Andy Street and said voters should forget about Westminster when deciding who they want to be in charge locally for the next four years.
Both mayors are seen as crucial for Mr Sunak in what is expected to be a difficult set of results where hundreds of councillors are likely to be lost.
Rebel plotters are waiting to see how bad the results are before making their next move but insist processes are in place to act quickly.
Critical MPs are lined up to “go public” early next week with more senior figures ready to sweep in if the outcome is dire.
But supporters of the PM insist claims of a plot a “b******s” and the rebel camp does not have the 52 MPs needed to trigger a leadership election.
Ms Badenoch insisted the Prime Minister’s position is not under threat, despite forecasts suggesting the Conservatives lose up to half of the council seats they are defending.
She said: “I think there’s a lot of noise being made by people who want to get attention but the Prime Minister has the full backing of the Cabinet, he has my full backing.”
The Prime Minister’s press secretary admitted there is “no doubt that we have work to do”. “It’s obviously been a really tough time for the country with Covid and Ukraine and the impact of that on inflation,” she said.
“But… I can look back at the last week, we’ve done a massive defence announcement which Labour have not matched, which means that our country would be at risk under Labour.
“We’ve done a massive welfare intervention to address the unsustainable rise in the welfare bill. And we are clearly making some progress on tackling illegal immigration.”
Most of the seats up for re-election on Thursday were last contested in 2021, at the peak of Mr Johnson’s popularity as the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out.
A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty between frontrunners, Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan and Tory challenger Susan Hall.
Labour is hoping to take back Blackpool South in a parliamentary by-election caused by the resignation of Scott Benton in a lobbying scandal.
