Suella Braverman's leadership bid suffers huge blow as closest ally abandons her

Suella Braverman's Tory leadership bid has suffered a huge blow after her closest ally jumped ship.

Senior Conservative MP Sir John Hayes has backed Robert Jenrick despite being a mentor to Mrs Braverman and running her last leadership campaign, The Sun reports.

It is the latest blow to the former home secretary as Tory hopefuls jostle for position, although none have officially thrown their hat in the ring.

Former Conservative Party deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis earlier warned Mrs Braverman is not the "right person" to take over from Rishi Sunak after the party's election defeat.

He told Times Radio: "I certainly want someone who is able to unite the party, who comes and understands the broad church of the Conservative Party, maybe served in some of those governments in that period of time.

"I am abundantly clear that I do not think Suella Braverman is the right person. I think Suella's rhetoric at times could be overly explosive, overly divisive, is not what the country wants to hear in all cases, because I think it is too aggressive.

"I certainly do not think Suella Braverman is the appropriate choice to reunite the Conservative Party."

Meanwhile, former Tory MP Danny Kruger, who supported Mrs Braverman in the 2022 race, is also reportedly set to back Mr Jenrick.

The former immigration minister is emerging as a frontrunner on the right of the party due to his tough stance on tackling migration.

Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel, former security minister Tom Tugendhat and ex-health secretary Victoria Atkins are also widely expected to put their names forward.

Mrs Braverman is likely to seek support on the party's Right on a platform of leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, scrapping the Human Rights Act and rewriting the Equality Act.