Mundell switches support to Gove in Tory leadership contest
- Published
Scottish Secretary David Mundell is backing Michael Gove in the next round of the Conservative leadership contest.
He is one of six Scottish Tory MPs to have declared for the environment secretary, who grew up in Aberdeen.
In the first round of voting Mr Mundell backed the health secretary, Matt Hancock, who has since pulled out of the race.
Mr Mundell has made clear he will not support Boris Johnson, but not ruled out serving in his cabinet if he wins.
He had previously suggested this would not be possible.
He now intends to vote for Michael Gove, who has emerged as the favourite among Scottish Tory MPs.
He was a leading figure in the Leave campaign and came third behind Mr Johnson and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in the first ballot of Tory MPs.
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Mr Johnson is the clear frontrunner to replace Theresa May, and had now obtained the backing of another former leadership contender Esther McVey.
Ms McVey - eliminated in the first ballot - told the Sunday Telegraph she was backing him because he had promised to deliver Brexit by 31 October.
Mr Johnson is the only one of the six remaining candidates who will not take part in a Channel 4 debate later on Sunday, although he has agreed to take part in a BBC debate on Tuesday.
The Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has publicly backed Sajid Javid in the contest.
Indyref2
Meanwhile, another Tory leadership contender, Jeremy Hunt, has been setting out the conditions he believes would have to be met before he would agree to Scotland holding another independence referendum.
Writing in The Times, he said he agreed with Ms Davidson that the SNP would need to win an outright majority at Holyrood in the 2021 elections on a manifesto commitment to hold indyref2.
He said he would also want more clarity on currency plans for an independent Scotland, and for the SNP to rule out a "wildcat" referendum, without an agreement with the UK government.