TORY leadership candidates are using “black ops” to stop Penny Mordaunt from getting to the final round, she claimed today as the race to become the next prime minister becomes increasingly bitter.

Ms Mordaunt told Beth Rigby of Sky News that her rivals are trying to undermine her campaign because she is who they fear most in the final head-to-head battle for the top job.

“People obviously are trying to stop me getting into the final because they don’t want to run against me,” she said.

Ms Mordaunt said her priority was “not just win this contest, but to win a general election.

“And that’s why I’m not engaging in any of these black ops,” she added.

While former chancellor Rishi Sunak has won both rounds of MP voting, recent polls show Ms Mordaunt would be likely to beat every other candidate in the members’ vote.

Allies of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss have denied any involvement in dirty tricks.

Ms Truss, who finished third in the latest round of voting, was given a boost to her faltering campaign as Attorney General Suella Braverman pledged her support, after being eliminated from the contest.

Ms Braverman described the Foreign Secretary as the “best person to unleash the opportunities of Brexit” and deliver tax cuts.

Ms Truss tried to breathe new life into her campaign with a flurry of tax cut promises worth billions of pounds during a Friday afternoon hustings organised by the Conservative Home website.

Ms Truss said that as well as reversing the National Insurance rise she would also “have a temporary moratorium on the green energy levy to cut £153 from people’s energy bills.”

She also said she would not carry out planned corporation tax hikes from 19 per cent to 25 per cent, at a cost of around £15 billion a year.

The other candidates chose not to make any new tax promises.

Ms Mordaunt has faced a scathing attack from former Brexit minister Lord Frost, who described her as “absent on parade” when he worked with her on post-Brexit negotiations last year.

But former Cabinet minister David Davis, a supporter of Ms Mordaunt, said: “I worked with her at the Foreign Office and I saw first-hand how hard-working she is, how dedicated she is, and how she just gets on with the job and she delivers.”

After today’s first Channel 4 debate further televised clashes are set for Sunday and Tuesday.

The next round of voting is due on Monday.