Penny Mordaunt allowed to stand for Conservatives at next election despite reports ex-defence secretary had been blocked

Published: 08:51 EDT, 4 October 2026 | Updated: 08:57 EDT, 4 October 2026 Penny Mordaunt will be allowed to stand as a Conservative candidate at the next general election despite reports she had been blocked.The former cabinet minister, who lost her seat in 2024, said she had been approved by the Tory candidates committee and would ‘love to be back on the squad’.Dame Penny admitted that she hadn’t ‘agreed 100 per cent’ with every Tory policy but added that she was now fully behind the party’s direction under Kemi Badenoch.It follows reports that the ex-defence secretary and other senior Tories had been blocked from standing again due to their ‘wet’ views and opposition to the UK leaving the ECHR.Former Tory MPs were forced to re-apply from scratch and Dame Penny and others had been told to expect a decision by the end of June, but were kept waiting weeks for an update.And claims circulated that she had been blocked after it was confirmed that former Tory chairman Sir Grant Shapps has been rejected as a parliamentary candidate.But on Sunday, Dame Penny said: ‘I have passed my parliamentary assessment board. I'm waiting to see what seats I can go for, but I have a full pass from the candidates' committee.’‘I would love to be back on the squad,’ she added. ‘If I am not selected, I will be in the stands cheering on the team and volunteering to chop the oranges at halftime.’ Former Tory cabinet minister Dame Penny Mordaunt, who lost her seat in 2024, told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme she had been approved by the Tory candidates committee and would ‘love to be back on the squad’ Dame Penny, who is known for carrying a ceremonial sword at King Charles' coronation, was widely regarded as a leadership successor to Rishi Sunak before she lost her Portsmouth North seat in 2024 Dame Penny, who is known for carrying a ceremonial sword at King Charles' coronation, was widely regarded as a leadership successor to Rishi Sunak before she lost her Portsmouth North seat in 2024.She has previously clashed with Mrs Badenoch over her stance on women’s rights - declaring in 2018 that ‘trans men are men and trans women are women’ - and is seen as a ‘wet’ Tory for opposing policies like ditching net zero and leaving the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).But challenged on whether she now backed these positions, Dame Penny told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: ‘Have I agreed 100 per cent with every policy? No, I haven't, and that's what collective responsibility is about.‘But I'm very happy with the policy position as it is, and I think we've tried a lot of things to deal with some of the big issues that are facing this country. And now things like leaving the ECHR are the only course of action.’She added: ‘I've always toed the party line… I haven't always had my first choice as leader, but I have followed the party line, and I think that that Kemi is right to require her potential MPs to say that they will deliver the manifesto we stand on.’Approval from the Tory candidate committee does not guarantee that Dame Penny will be given the chance to return to Westminster, as she would still need to be selected by a local association as its candidate.Dame Penny’s comments come on the first day of the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham, where Mrs Badenoch is due to set out her vision for the future of her party.The Tory leader has vowed to lead a ‘brand new party full of new people’ and said the Conservatives will only admit ‘people who are going to meet the standards which we are setting’.Mrs Badenoch has insisted that all potential Tory candidates must agree with her policies on leaving the ECHR and scrapping the 2050 net zero target.