Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss face Tory member grills tonight as wages drop

Tory leadership candidates set to be quizzed on the cost of living crisis and the issue of a second Scottish independence referendum in the only roundups north of the border

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Conservative Leadership: An Overview and the Policies of Truss and Sunak

Tory leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are set to be grilled by party members this evening in the seventh official election campaign contest to replace lame duck Boris Johnson.

The showdown comes with just two weeks left in the race for No. 10, with voting among the Conservative Party's 160,000 paying members set to conclude on September 2.

Moving vans were pictured in Downing Street on Monday as the outgoing Prime Minister enjoys his second vacation in as many weeks in Greece - and will only work on 'urgent' matters.

But tonight's stampede in Perth follows grim figures showing real wages fell at a record pace between April and June, with the Tories accused of 'losing control' of the economy.

The Resolution Foundation think tank said it was the biggest drop in real average weekly earnings since 1977, when Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Silver Jubilee.

The event is also likely to be overshadowed by rising energy bills and pressure on both candidates from Labor leader Keir Starmer to suspend the price cap increase this month- here.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are battling to become Prime Minister (

Picture:

POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth lambasted: "Because of the Conservatives' economic failure, families are facing plummeting real wages and soaring energy bills. Yet this zombie government doesn't 'offers no solution to the cost of living crisis.

These are also the first Tory campaigns north of the border and expect the controversial issue of a second Scottish referendum to feature prominently among members' questions to Ms Truss and Mr Sunak .