Penny Mordaunt is one of the Tories' strongest media performers (Image: Getty Images)
Penny Mordaunt won the attention of the world as a sword-bearer at the Coronation of King Charles – and now she wants to get back onto the political battlefield.
The former Defence Secretary says she finds it “heartbreaking” to watch what Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are doing to the country and she is ready to grasp opportunities to return to Parliament.
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She wants to play the fullest possible part in giving people reason to feel pride in their nation but fears a surge in unemployment is coming if Labour presses ahead with its tax plans.
Ms Mordaunt – who is named after the cruiser HMS Penelope and trained as a naval reservist – was among the Conservative casualties of the summer’s disastrous election. But defeat by just 780 votes in her beloved constituency of Portsmouth North has not dimmed her determination to make her mark on Britain.
“I would obviously love to come back to Parliament but I shall try and make myself useful in the meantime,” she says.
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One of the great “what-ifs” of modern British politics is what would have happened if Ms Mordaunt and not Liz Truss had succeeded Boris Johnson as Prime Minister in 2022. This paratrooper’s daughter finished in the final three in the leadership contest and her fans admire her fierce commitment to national defence, her personal warmth and her battle-hardened communication skills.
She has first-hand experience of crisis from her time growing up in Portsmouth. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was 15 and her father was diagnosed with cancer shortly afterwards.
Ms Mordaunt had to care for her nine-year-old brother and she found work as a magician’s assistant.
“It was the most money that I could earn in the time that I had between working at school and college for my exams and taking care of my family,” she explains. “That’s what my community taught me.
“When the chips are down and you have to take responsibility, step up and do it and do what is required... I obviously learned a few card tricks along the way but that was the main lesson I learned as a magician’s assistant.”
She remains at ease in the spotlight – as demonstrated when she clutched ceremonial swords for more than an hour during the coronation.
As Lord President of the Council she turned heads with her specially commissioned teal outfit with matching cape and headband – and even former Labour spin guru Alastair Campbell admitted he was in “awe” at her “arm and shoulder strength”.
She has a simple explanation for how she carried off this feat: “Royal Navy training, mate. I can recommend it – I’d have been stuck without it that day, I can tell you.”
People still talk to her “all the time” about the Coronation and she is inspired by the “deeply felt love of country” she sees.
“They are very kind about my role in it but what they are actually talking to me about is how they felt and what it meant to them and that’s been a lovely thing.”
This gives her hope for the nation.
“In this time of immense turmoil and what seems to be massive division, it’s taught me that actually our country is really strong and there are these common bonds displayed in our traditions which unite us all.”
The 51-year-old’s desire to return to frontline politics should come as no surprise. When she her 2005 attempt to win Portsmouth North ended in a narrow second place finish to Labour she received a letter from former prime minister Lady Thatcher, telling her to “get back on the horse”.
She describes what Labour has done to the UK in its first seven months in power as “very painful to watch” – and she fears worse is to come.
“I’m seeing all of this potential and opportunity squandered,” she says, speaking days after the Bank of England halved the country’s growth forecast for this year to just 0.75%. “I see a complete lack of understanding about how you create wealth, how you actually grow the economy.”
She considers small businesses the “lifeblood of our economy” and argues the Government must let wealth-creating “heroes” get on with their vital mission of generating growth.
“Every single thing this Government is doing stands in the way of that and that is heartbreaking to watch,” she says. “It makes me really angry, actually, because you’ve got these people who are stepping up to take responsibility, who are putting their own money on the line, who are making sacrifices and working hard to create something – and they are being blocked at every turn by people who have no understanding about what they are doing.”
She considers the hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions the most damaging of the Chancellor’s decisions so far.
“You are cutting off all the hopes and opportunities and ambitions for those who are in work and that is a crazy strategy... The consequences of that Budget are going to mean that unemployment continues to rise and I think we’re going to see very large numbers of job losses,” she warns.
Penny Mordaunt on the day of the King's Coronation (Image: Getty)
She dismisses Nigel Farage’s Reform UK as a party which has “never taken responsibility for anything” but she acknowledges people are not happy with the status quo.
“I think people want to be proud of Westminster,” she says. “They want to be proud of Whitehall.
“They want to be proud of their local council. But what we have to recognise is there is a gulf between what is being delivered and people’s hopes and expectations.
“We really do have to wake up as a nation.”
Ms Mordaunt credits the Tories’ crushing election defeat to a failure to address concerns on key issues including health care and the cost of living crisis, and she warns of the consequences if people look to the future with fear.
Everything her party stands for – as well as democracy and capitalism itself – “require you to believe in the future”, she argues, adding: “If we create that mood and we give people hope again and we demonstrate our competence, that is how we will win back trust.”
She praises Tory leader Kemi Badenoch – a fellow contestant in the 2022 leadership election – for working to “build the answers for those challenges the country is facing” and not being “blown about by the Westminster bubble discussions”.
“She should stick to what she’s doing and she knows it’s a tough shift but she’s up for doing it and she’s more than capable of doing it,” she says.
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When asked whether she plans to stand in a by-election or wait until the next general election to try and win back a seat in the Commons, Ms Mordaunt keeps her options open.
“I’ve been in this business long enough to know that a large chunk of it is luck and timing,” she says. “Look, I’m ready for all eventualities but my main focus is where I am now – what can I do to help my country do well?”
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Right now, she chairs maritime technology company SubSea Craft and the Coalition for Global Prosperity, a group founded by David Cameron which champions Britain’s strategic role in international development.
“I care passionately about our nation and particularly its defence and security and its economic success as well, and I’ll work with anyone to get great things to happen for our country,” she says. “That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning and I’ll continue to do my bit from where I am.”
It is uncertain when Ms Mordaunt will dive back into full-time politics. But when she does, she is sure to make a splash.