UK PM candidates say they would serve in each other's cabinets
Britain’s two prime ministerial candidates on Tuesday said they would both be willing to serve on the other’s cabinet in the case of a loss.
Speaking at a Conservative Party hustings in Darlington, northeast England, Rishi Sunak did not hesitate when saying he would work under the leadership of rival Liz Truss, in any role.
Truss said she would put aside her differences with Sunak because she preferred him to opposition leader Keir Starmer.
"What I care about is our country and I am prepared to do whatever job to serve our country is required of me,” she said.
Whoever wins the leadership race will replace Boris Johnson as prime minister on September 5.
Asked who was to blame for the outgoing leader’s downfall, Sunak, who stepped down from his role as chancellor in July, said Johnson himself was entirely to blame. Truss opted to agree with the audience’s opinion that the media were at fault, but later apologised to host Tom Newton Dunn for the comment.
Truss was challenged for her views on transgender rights and she stressed her belief that biological sex and gender were different.
“Women's rights have been hard fought for, for generations. And what I am concerned about is, for example… unequal treatment in sports. So I am very clear that biological sex is important, and that's what should guide those very sensitive areas of policy,” said Truss, who formerly served as Minister for Women and Equalities.
“You can live in the other gender if you so wish. And I completely respect that, but that is not the same as biological sex.”
The latest polling shows Sunak is trailing Truss as the two candidates tour the country in a bid to secure votes.