Minister switches sides from Rishi to Liz

London: A senior Cabinet minister, who was backing Rishi Sunak in the UK prime ministerial contest on Saturday, became the first high-profile figure to switch sides to the opposing camp of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Writing in 'The Daily Telegraph', Sir Robert Buckland said he now believes

Truss is the "right person to take the country forward" and that her plans are the best shot for the UK to reach its potential as a "high-growth, high-productivity economy". The minister said he had initially backed Rishi Sunak because he felt that, during the initial parliamentary rounds where Conservative Party MPs decided on the final two candidates, the former Chancellor was "embodying what we needed".

"As the campaign has moved on, and as I have listened carefully to both candidates, I have thought deeply about the issues that move me and what I want to see the next Prime Minister doing," writes Buckland. "Changing your mind on an issue like this is not an easy thing to do, but I have decided that Liz Truss is the right person to take the country forward," he said.

The defection comes on the back of surveys that show Truss in a clear lead over her British Indian contender in the race to succeed Boris Johnson as Tory leader and Prime Minister. During such leadership contests, members of Parliament often pick their endorsements with an eye on a ministerial post in the new leader's Cabinet. Buckland writes:

"I know both candidates well and have worked with them in government and in Cabinet... I have looked at ideas and principles first, and personalities second. Her (Truss) plans give us our best shot at reaching our potential with the high-growth, high-productivity economy that we need not only to get us out of this crisis but to protect ourselves from the next."