‘She didn’t have the numbers!’ Inside Braverman’s decision to ‘pull out’ of Tory leadership race

Despite blaming Conservative colleagues for failing to accept why the Tories were routed on July 4, GB News understands that Braverman was struggling to retain MPs who backed her in 2022.

GB News can also reveal that MPs who supported Braverman in 2022 have broken for Robert Jenrick and Priti Patel.

“Suella just didn’t have the numbers,” a top Tory said. “She has seen her supporters shift to both Jenrick and Patel.”

East Wiltshire MP Danny Kruger opted to endorse the former Immigration Minister and Mid Buckinghamshire MP Greg Smith is supporting the former Home Secretary’s bid.

A Patel-supporting Tory MP also claimed the Witham MP was attracting supporters from across the Conservative Party.

“Priti's support base for 2024 is much bigger than just taking from one camp in 2022,” they said.

However, Sir Desmond Swayne made a different switch, opting to back former Work & Pensions Secretary Mel Stride.

A former No10 adviser added: “People want a true Conservative leader, they want punchy, they want bold but they don’t want chaos.

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“Suella is punchy and bold, in many ways very admirable, but there’s too much chaos with her.

“The membership want a balance of unity and true Conservative values.”

Braverman failed to get a single Tory MP to publicly back her before pulling out of the contest.

She received the support of 27 predominantly Brexit-backing MPs before crashing out in the second round of the 2022 leadership race.

However, Braverman claimed she received the support of enough MPs to launch a bid for leader.

Writing for The Telegraph, the former Home Secretary said: “Although I’m grateful to the 10 MPs who wanted to nominate me for the leadership, getting onto the ballot is not enough.”

Conceding it was not enough to mount a serious leadership bid, Braverman added: “There is, for good or for ill, no point in someone like me running to lead the Tory Party when most of the MPs disagree with my diagnosis and prescription.

“The traumatised party does not want to hear these things said out loud.

“Instead, platitudes about ‘unity’ are fashionable. That’s all fine but it’s not honest.”

Braverman's decision not to stand for leader has fuelled further speculation about whether the former Home Secretary could switch to join Nigel Farage and his quartet of fellow Reform UK MPs.

A Reform UK source told GB News: “Let’s wait and see.”

A Tory insider added: “It makes sense for Suella to go to Reform if she wants a future in politics. If they want to build momentum, they need someone with top Government experience.”

However, Braverman recently rejected speculation about defecting to the populist party.

A spokesperson for the former Home Secretary said: “Suella has only recently been elected as a Conservative MP and has been a Conservative Party member for three decades.”

Doubling down, Braverman yesterday added: “Nigel Farage destroyed us.

“We have no hope of recovery until we win back the trust of the four million.

“Branding them as racists and comparing their events to Nuremberg rallies did not work during the campaign and it won’t work now.”

A Reform UK source sounded cautious about Braverman wanting to cross over, stressing the Fareham & Waterlooville MP is an “old timer” within Conservative ranks.