The papers on Thursday revolve around the results from Tory MPs’ final round of voting which saw Penny Mordaunt eliminated and Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss finishing in the top two places.
It comes as Liz Truss criticised Rishi Sunak’s record on taxation and the former chancellor claimed he was the only one who could beat Labour as the leadership contenders turned their focus to winning over Tory members.
The Foreign Secretary vowed to bring in an emergency budget to swiftly axe the national insurance rise if she wins the race to be the next prime minister.
Mr Sunak made his own pitch to win over the Conservative membership who will crown the winner by arguing he could win an election, whereas Ms Truss could not.
Dogfight
“Blue on blue dogfight as Sunak and Truss face off”, The Guardian says as the contest heats up, with a Tory source reportedly telling the paper the battle is about to get even “dirtier”.
Guardian front page, Thursday 21 July 2022: ‘Blue on blue dogfight’ as Sunak and Truss face off pic.twitter.com/szMedIzaH0
— The Guardian (@guardian) July 20, 2022
The i, Metro, The Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times all write that, according to bookmakers and opinion polls, Ms Truss is the favourite to defeat Mr Sunak, although the latter newspaper notes that the margin is slim.
Thursday’s front page: Liz Truss new favourite to become PM#TomorrowsPapersToday
Latest from @singharj @RichardVaughan1: https://t.co/fvfMXV6Hu2 pic.twitter.com/gp8ykCXO6w
— i newspaper (@theipaper) July 20, 2022
Tomorrow’s Paper Today 📰
PENNY’S DROPPED
🔴 Mordaunt loses out to Truss by eight votes in race to be next prime minister🔴 Foreign secretary now favourite to win in the final ballot against Sunak#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/sIRpQMMpi9
— Metro (@MetroUK) July 20, 2022
The front page of tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph:
‘Advantage Truss in the race to be PM’#TomorrowsPapersToday
Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4O6L2Y pic.twitter.com/pFrcNRwe60
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 20, 2022
Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Thursday 21 July https://t.co/A1a2jiY2uU pic.twitter.com/wRKfWkGPZZ
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) July 20, 2022
“A fresh start for Britain?” questions The Independent in relation to the two contenders for PM.
Thursday’s INDEPENDENT Digital: “A fresh start for Britain?” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/a0LXuqRBjI
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) July 20, 2022
The Times leads with the former chancellor going “on the offensive” and claiming that his rival will be unable to beat Sir Keir Starmer at the next election.
Thursday’s TIMES: “Sunak: Pick me or lose power” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/XookckQE4x
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) July 20, 2022
The Daily Mirror, meanwhile, summarises the end to Boris Johnson’s reign and the start to another as: “Out of the lying man & into the dire”.
Thursday’s front page: Out of the lying man & into the dire #TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/t7NFpStFrH pic.twitter.com/rYapqDvHro
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) July 20, 2022
The Daily Mail splash points to an op-ed by Ms Truss in which she again pledges immediate tax cuts.
Thursday’s Daily MAIL: “Truss: I’ll Hold An Emergency Tax Cut Budget” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/SXtlcgFIhA
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) July 20, 2022
The Daily Express bids farewell to Mr Johnson, adding that he delivered a “parting shot” to his former number two by hinting that he intends to make a comeback.
Front page: Farewell Boris – parting shot at Rishi and a hint ‘I’ll be back’ #TomorrowsPaperToday
Dame Deborah James story: https://t.co/D4KrQmXCn9 pic.twitter.com/pMqTDgL1oq
— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) July 20, 2022
Elsewhere, The Sun‘s splash features the mourning family members of Dame Deborah James at her funeral yesterday.
Tomorrow’s front page: Bowelbabe Dame Deborah James is laid to rest – as her incredible cancer campaign reaches £7.4million https://t.co/Kk2I9pI7fQ pic.twitter.com/2PdnfVPL75
— The Sun (@TheSun) July 20, 2022
And the Daily Star has the head of Netflix saying that TV “will be dead in 10 years”.
Tomorrow’s front page: Netflix boss says TV will be dead in 10 years.https://t.co/tt9SvLkpb3#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/drxJqdzboY
— Daily Star (@dailystar) July 20, 2022
Related: PMQs – Where the only question is, why have you not f**ked off yet?
