It has been a short but very eventful journey to the top for a man who has only been in parliament since 2015.
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Articles on Penny Mordaunt
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Candidates are either trumpeting their experience or using a lack of it to distance themselves from Boris Johnson. But which is the better strategy?
The two front runners are more likely to face a right-wing candidate like Liz Truss than each other in the final phase of the race to replace Boris Johnson.
Conservative MPs vote in the first round and members in the second.
A look at the runners and riders in the Conservative leadership race.
