Mordaunt: I will keep calm and carry on following resignation of Liz Truss

The Commons Leader came third in the Tory leadership contest over the summer.

Penny Mordaunt has insisted she will “keep calm and carry on” as she was teased about her leadership ambitions following Liz Truss’s resignation.

The Conservative minister was in the Commons when Ms Truss appeared in Downing Street to announce her resignation as Conservative Party leader.

Ms Mordaunt came third in the leadership contest over the summer and narrowly missed out on a place in the head-to-head phase between Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak.

She later backed Ms Truss over the former chancellor Mr Sunak.

Asked in the chamber about Ms Truss’s resignation and the state of the Government, Commons Leader Ms Mordaunt said: “I am going to keep calm and carry on – and I would suggest everyone else do the same.”

Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) joked that she wanted to ask Ms Mordaunt if she “wants to make any statement of intent in relation to her future candidacy for leader of her party”, before focusing her question on international aid.

Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans later said it had been “another momentous day in British politics” as the Commons pressed on with its scheduled business despite the drama outside.