Rishi Sunak accused of risking UK 'recession' as Tory rivals target leadership leader

Rishi Sunak has been accused of setting the UK on a path to 'recession' and 'dirty tricks' after cementing his status as frontrunner to succeed Boris Johnson.

The former chancellor has come under fire from both wings of the Conservative Party, after securing the most nominations in a Tory leadership race that descended into vicious backbiting.

Jeremy Hunt has claimed the Mr Sunak's refusal to cut taxes had risked an economic crisis, while Liz Truss supporters argued the quick contest furthered his 'disloyalty' to Mr Johnson, accusing him of a long underground campaign. /p>

The attacks came as eight candidates secured enough nominations to make it to the first ballot, but former health secretary Sajid Javid suffered a knockout blow. Home Secretary Priti Patel has also dropped her bid to join the race, due to a lack of support.

Besides Mr Sunak, Mr Hunt and Ms Truss, leadership hopefuls remaining include Penny Mordaunt, Tom Tugendhat, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, Kemi Badenoch and Attorney General Suella Braverman.

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A fierce battle looms to be the party's right-wing nominee, ahead of Wednesday's vote, with Foreign Secretary Ms Truss competing with the little-known es Ms. Badenoch and Ms. Braverman.

Rishi Sunak faces criticism from rivals as number of candidates shrinking

(Reuters)

Although Ms Badenoch's campaign has gained momentum, some Tory MPs said they were confident Ms Truss was winning the fight to represent the right, after gaining support from Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

"She says the right things, she has experience where others don't - and she didn't do for Boris. There are a lot of people who are hurting about it,' one said.

But Lord Hayward, a Tory peer and polling expert, warned the divided right was in danger of running out of have a candidate when the race would narrow down to just two choices for a final vote by party members.

"I'm not convinced the right will coalesce around a single candidate," said- he told The Independent. "And there's a risk that they won't have a candidate in the bottom two."

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