Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are set to go head-to-head this evening in a crunch Tory leadership hustings hosted by The Telegraph.
Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will square off at a sold-out event in Cheltenham, with more than 1,800 Tory members due to attend to see the contenders in person.
It will be the sixth official hustings, with six more to go, as the two rivals try to gain an advantage in the increasingly bitter race for No 10.
There are now less than four weeks to go until Boris Johnson’s replacement is announced on September 5.
That means both candidates are running out of time to persuade Conservative Party members to vote for them.
Ms Truss is viewed as the firm frontrunner in the contest but Mr Sunak will know that he is still in with a chance of victory and that a strong showing tonight could help him to gain ground on the Foreign Secretary.
Follow the latest updates below.
05:51 PM
Sunak supporters warn against Truss premiership
Dominic Penna, The Telegraph’s political reporter, is outside the hustings venue in Cheltenham speaking to supporters from both campaigns.
Rowan Thandi, 19, who is handing out Rishi Sunak merchandise, said he is a “young, inspired university student that sees the future of this country in Rishi”.
He said he believed Liz Truss could cast the Tories into “electoral oblivion”.
He insisted members have not yet made up their minds in the contest and said everyone had to see Rishi “do his thing and convince people he’s the best choice for the country”.
05:46 PM
Rishi Sunak arrives in Cheltenham
Tory members are already starting to gather for tonight’s hustings, writes The Telegraph’s political editor Ben Riley-Smith who is on the ground in Cheltenham.
Campaign stalls for both candidates have been set up under the blazing sun, with staffers handing out stickers and placards to supporters.
Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, was seen arriving at the venue a few minutes ago. Liz Truss is yet to be sighted.
Some 1,700+ members are expected to be in the audience – the biggest crowd for a hustings so far in the contest, according to Tory sources.
05:43 PM
Andrew Bailey issues warning to Liz Truss
Andrew Bailey has warned Liz Truss not to challenge the Bank of England’s rule making powers and change its mandate, as tensions between Threadneedle Street and ministers continue to escalate.
In a letter to the Treasury committee, the Governor of the Bank of England said curbing the institution’s independence could damage its international reputation.
Mr Bailey also indicated his opposition to a proposal that would allow ministers to reverse any decisions made by City regulators if they are seen to be holding back post-Brexit reforms.
Ms Truss, who is the firm favourite to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister next month, has vowed to press ahead with the introduction of a so-called “call-in” power that would allow the government to override the decisions of regulators.
She has also pledged to review Threadneedle Street’s mandate if she becomes prime minister and questioned the Bank’s use of quantitative easing.
You can read the full story here.
05:41 PM
Where is left on the hustings trail?
Tonight’s event in Cheltenham is the sixth of 12 official Tory leadership hustings.
The final six will take place in:
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Perth, August 16
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Belfast, August 17
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Manchester, August 19
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Birmingham, August 23
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Norwich, August 25
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London, August 31
05:33 PM
Boris Johnson appeals to energy bosses
Away from the Tory leadership race, Boris Johnson today appealed to energy bosses to help ease the pressure on hard-pressed families after a dire new warning that energy bills could top £5,000 by the spring.
Representatives of major electricity companies arrived in Downing Street for crisis talks as analyst, Auxilione, said regulator Ofgem could be forced to raise the price cap for the average household to £5,038 from next April.
However the meeting failed to produce any immediate concrete help for struggling consumers, with Mr Johnson acknowledging any “significant fiscal decisions” would be be a matter for his successor.
Instead the Prime Minister was reduced to urging the companies to act “in the national interest” in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which has caused the price of oil and gas to soar.
05:26 PM
How do the voting records of the candidates compare?
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have exchanged many heated words during the race to become the next prime minister – but their actions as MPs have often spoken louder.
Ahead of The Telegraph’s leadership hustings in Cheltenham, our analysis reveals how the two candidates have voted in hundreds of Commons votes over the last decade.
You can explore their voting records in full here.
05:17 PM
Will cost-of-living crisis dominate tonight’s hustings?
The way in which Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss would tackle the cost-of-living crisis has dominated the political news agenda in recent days.
Mr Sunak has made a clear commitment to provide extra targeted support to struggling households while Ms Truss has made a broader pledge to do all she can to help people.
It will be interesting to see how the different approaches are received by the Tory members in tonight’s audience.
Both candidates will be hoping to avoid a difficult moment of challenge from an audience member during the Q&A.
05:06 PM
Tory slanging match turns ugly
Rishi Sunak resisted attempts to cut Brexit red tape, two Cabinet ministers who helped steer the economy with him claimed, after 24 hours of bitter briefing wars in the Tory leadership race.
Simon Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary – who both back Liz Truss – made the allegation in a Telegraph article.
The pair – two of the most senior government ministers with economic briefs – said that Mr Sunak “dug his heels in as Chancellor” on reforms only possible after the UK left the European Union.
You can read the full story and the op-ed written by Mr Kwarteng and Mr Clarke here.
04:56 PM
‘Recession on top of cost-of-living crisis would be utter human disaster’
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader and a supporter of Liz Truss, did a good job this morning of setting out the difficult picture which will face whoever wins the current contest when they enter Downing Street.
Sir Iain warned the cost-of-living crisis could be compounded by a predicted recession. The combination of the two would be an “utter human disaster”, he said, as he praised Ms Truss’s plan for tax cuts.
He told Sky News: “Liz Truss has been crystal clear from the beginning that should the need arise, she will do whatever is necessary.
“But right now on a campaign it’s not feasible for two candidates to literally make up amounts of money on the back of an envelope. What she wants to do on day one to start with is to make sure that we reduce the burden of taxation because why?
“Right now we face the potential of a recession. If you have a recession on top of this cost-of-living crisis it would be an utter human disaster.
“We need to avoid recession at all costs in the course of this winter, we need to do something about that, that’s where lower tax is important.”
04:53 PM
Senior Tory MP: Sunak ‘best for rural communities’
Mel Stride, a senior Tory MP and the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, has said a majority of Devon MPs are backing Rishi Sunak as he said he believes the former chancellor will be “best for rural communities”.
It is an interesting intervention, coming as Mr Sunak and Liz Truss head to Cheltenham for this evening’s hustings event.
Picturesque Gloucestershire, firmly in the south west of England and not a million miles from Devon, also has its fair share of rural communities. It will be interesting to see which candidate gets the warmer welcome.
04:45 PM
Analysis: How will Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak approach tonight’s hustings?
One senior Tory MP I spoke to yesterday who happens to be a Truss supporter said they believed that most Conservative Party members will have already voted in the contest.
They argued that most people would have voted immediately once receiving their ballot.
The truth is that no one knows how many votes are still up for grabs and because of that both candidates will be eager to give their best possible performance this evening and at events in the coming weeks.
The old adage of something not being over until it is actually over applies: Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will be playing as if the score is still nil-nil.
They will also know that momentum can be a funny thing. One big error or one very impressive moment could be enough to torpedo a seemingly unsinkable campaign or elevate one which has seemingly struggled to get going.
04:33 PM
The format for this evening
Both candidates will have the chance to deliver a speech, lasting for about 10 minutes.
Camilla Tominey, The Telegraph’s Associate Editor, will then grill each of the candidates separately.
Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss will also face a Q&A with the audience of Tory members.
04:22 PM
How did we get here?
We are only halfway through the Tory leadership contest but it is safe to say the race so far has already been a bruising affair.
The two campaigns have exchanged increasingly bitter broadsides as they have tried to gain an advantage.
The hustings events so far have provided some of the box office moments of the campaign, with Penny Mordaunt using the second event to publicly announce her backing for Liz Truss while the fourth event was disrupted by protesters.
You can find out what happened at all the previous hustings events in this excellent explainer.
04:12 PM
Tonight’s event is sold out
This evening’s hustings event in Cheltenham is number six on the schedule and there are six more to go so tonight represents a halfway point in the contest.
Andrew Stephenson, the chairman of the Conservative Party, said this evening’s event hosted by The Telegraph will be the best attended hustings yet.
More than 1,800 tickets have been sold, officially making it a sell-out.
04:06 PM
Who is hosting tonight’s hustings?
Tonight’s Tory leadership hustings in Cheltenham will start at 7pm and will finish at about 9pm.
It will be hosted by Camilla Tominey, The Telegraph’s Associate Editor. She will be putting the questions to the candidates.
04:02 PM
Good afternoon
Good afternoon and welcome to today’s special edition of The Telegraph’s politics live blog.
The Telegraph is hosting the sixth official Tory leadership hustings this evening and I will be on hand to guide you through the action.
There are now less than four weeks to go until the winner of the contest is due to be announced on September 5.
That means Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are running out of time to win over Tory members and secure their backing.
Tonight’s showdown in Cheltenham represents a major opportunity for Mr Sunak to gain ground or for Ms Truss to cement her status as the frontrunner.
Who will gain the upper hand? Let’s find out!
