Rishi Sunak has allegedly urged Sajid Javid to duck out of the contest to become the new leader of the Conservative party, and instead join his campaign.
The former chancellor is said to be trying to persuade Mr Javid to join his leadership bid in a secret pact that would pave the way for him to become prime minister.
Allies of Mr Sunak, 42, have allegedly contacted friends of the former health secretary, 52, arguing that they are competing for the same votes, The Times reports.
The paper has also reported that Sir Gavin Williamson, George Eustice and Sir Robert Buckland, will back Mr Sunak in the coming days.
Mr Sunak officially declared his intention to stand as the next leader of the Tories yesterday.
In a slick campaign video, which appeared to be months in the making, Mr Sunak set out his family history, saying: ‘Our country faces huge challenges, the most serious for a generation.
‘And the decisions we make today will decide whether the next generation of British people will also have the chance of a better future.’
Those in support of Mr Sunak have been sharing a link to his campaign website, http://www.ready4rishi.com.
It appears that a site with a slightly different name, http://www.readyforrishi.com, which redirects to the official campaign page, was set up in December 2021.
Mr Sunak’s team said domains are bought all the time, adding that they had been transferred a number of them.
Among those publicly backing Mr Sunak are Commons Leader Mark Spencer, former Tory Party co-chairman Oliver Dowden, former chief whip Mark Harper, ex-ministers Liam Fox and Andrew Murrison, and MPs Sir Bob Neill and Paul Maynard.
Across the party, Tories are rushing to take sides and declare their loyalty to candidates hoping to become the new prime minister.
Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch is among the latest to throw her hat into the ring, with a plan for a smaller state and a government ‘focused on the essentials’.
The MP for Saffron Walden said she supported lower taxes ‘to boost growth and productivity, and accompanied by tight spending discipline’.
Writing in The Times, she also hit out at ‘identity politics’ and said Boris Johnson was ‘a symptom of the problems we face, not the cause of them’.
So far, she has the support of MP for North East Derbyshire, Lee Rowley.
Meanwhile, former minister Steve Baker has backed Attorney General Suella Braverman’s campaign – despite previously saying he was seriously considering putting himself forward for the top job.
Ms Braverman, writing in the Daily Express, promised ‘rapid and large tax cuts’ to ease inflation and said the energy crisis meant ‘we must suspend the all-consuming desire to achieve net-zero by 2050’.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is also widely expected to run for leader.
Tory MPs Chloe Smith, Julian Knight and Jackie-Doyle Price expressed their support for the senior Cabinet minister on Friday, although she is yet to launch a bid.
Ms Smith said Ms Truss is ‘the right person to take our country forward’, while Mr Knight said she would ‘deliver on the promise we made to our voters’.
Jackie Doyle-Price told The Times Ms Truss would be ‘a vigorous defender of women’s rights’ in an apparent reference to her defence of single-sex spaces.
Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely also told BBC Newsnight he believes Ms Truss is most likely to provide ‘clarity of leadership’.
The absence of a clear front-runner in the leadership race has tempted a number of less-fancied contenders to step forward – with backbencher John Baron saying he will be ‘taking soundings’ over the weekend.
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Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, has already said he will be putting his name forward.
More are expected in the coming days including Mr Sunak’s successor as chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, and Ms Truss.
Elsewhere, defence secretary Ben Wallace is tipped to be a front-runner should he mount his own campaign.
Following elections to the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee on Monday, the new body will draw up a timetable for the leadership election.
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