The Times claimed on Friday that outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had chats with unsuccessful contenders seeking his position and pushed them to back anyone other than former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in the PM electoral race.

On Thursday, five contenders advanced to the third round of the battle to become Conservative Party leader and UK Prime Minister. Sunak (101 votes), Minister of State for Trade Policy Penny Mordaunt (83 votes), Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (64 votes), former Minister of State for Equalities Kemi Badenoch (49 votes), and Tom Tugendhat (32 votes) are among those who voted.

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Johnson has previously stated that he has no plans to openly support any of the candidates. However, the outgoing PM, according to a source cited by the media outlet, has spoken with the defeated candidates and informed them that Sunak should not be elected as the UK government's commander.

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"The whole No 10 [Downing Street] team hates Rishi. It's personal. It's vitriolic. They don't blame Saj [Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid] for bringing him down. They blame Rishi. They think he was planning this for months," the source told the media outlet.

Meanwhile, the source told The Times that Truss is Johnson's preferred candidate. The outgoing leader is also said to be fine with Mordaunt becoming Prime Minister if it meant Sunak losing the election.

After being ousted from the election race, Attorney General for England and Wales Suella Braverman announced her intention to support Truss' candidacy on Thursday.

Johnson received calls to resign after being accused of violating COVID-19 regulations in 2020-2021, which were later proven. In July 2022, it was revealed that he appointed Christopher Pincher deputy chief in February despite knowing about the latter's previous sexual assault claims.

Sunak was one of the first ministers to resign from the cabinet in protest last week, joining nearly 60 other officials. As a result, on July 7, Johnson announced his resignation as both prime minister and leader of the UK's Conservative Party. He will remain in office until a new government is formed.