Tory hopefuls face bruising week of scrambling for support

Conservative leadership hopefuls face a bruising week in which they must quickly scramble for supporters in what looks likely to be a dramatically accelerated contest to find Boris Johnson’s successor.

After an acrimonious weekend in which several MPs launched their plans to cut tax, those currently vying to be prime minister are likely to be whittled down to a final two in about a week.

Sources said the powerful 1922 Committee of backbench Tories may increase the number of supporters a…