Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt: Constituents share their views on the MP that could become the next prime minister

Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt remains the bookies’ favourite to win the Conservative Party leadership contest, as she moves forward to the next round of voting with the backing of 83 fellow Tory MPs.

The News has been out on the streets of Portsmouth to ask residents – what do they know about the currently high-flying Portsmouth politician? And what do they want to know about the candidate, who now faces a new level of national scrutiny?

Paulsgrove resident Rita Groizard said she hoped the Portsmouth North MP would stop Portsmouth from being neglected by Westminster.

The 70-year-old said: ‘She’s got good views – it would be nice to have someone think of Pompey for a change.’

Cost of living was the most important issue for Ms Mordaunt to address, according to Rita, who said she didn’t care about the ‘culture wars’ issues that have drawn a lot of attention in the contest so far.

Addressing the rising prices, Rita added: ‘It goes right across the board, it’s affecting everyone.’

The MP, who has represented Portsmouth North since 2015, seems to be a ‘decent person’ who seems to care about the city of Portsmouth ‘a lot’, according to Joe from Buckland.

The 30-year-old said: ‘I’d like to know what she will do for the working class and how she would help working families.’

He added: ‘My plan is to vote for her.’

Tory MPs will continue to vote for their preferred candidate until two contenders remain, at which point Conservative Party members will vote to decide the winner – potentially ushering in a new prime minister if the party is still in power at that point.

For Somerstown resident Yvonne Webber, aged 86, the MP was something of a mystery – but what she had seen so far from the last few weeks was positive.

She said: ‘I do like her – she’s very upfront. I don’t think she’ll lead us astray.’

Addressing Ms Mordaunt, she added: ‘Don’t tell us any lies.’