The Cabinet Office has launched an inquiry after accusations civil servants leaked information to the press to damage Penny Mordaunt’s chances in the Conservative leadership race. 

Sky News understands Tory backbencher David Davis – who pledged his support to the trade minister – wrote to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case on Sunday night to raise his concerns after reports emerged about her time in the equalities office.

In a reply sent on Tuesday night, seen by Sky News, Mr Case said he had made it “very clear” to staff it is “paramount that public resources are not used to support leadership campaigns” during the contest.

And he said “unauthorised disclosure of government information to the media is clearly inappropriate”.

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The Cabinet secretary confirmed to Mr Davis he had launched a leak inquiry, promising it would be “completed as quickly as possible given the importance of the subject”.

Ms Mordaunt became the latest candidate to be knocked out of the leadership contest on Wednesday, meaning former chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will go head-to-head to become the next leader of the party and prime minister.

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Ms Mordaunt faced criticism throughout the campaign over her position on gender self-identification after leaked government documents suggested she had supported watering down the legal process for transitioning.

Both Ms Truss and former candidate Kemi Badenoch echoed the claims during a TV debate on Friday.

But Ms Mordaunt condemned the reports as “smears”, saying while she had ordered a review of the Gender Recognition Act, she was not in favour of self-identification and would “not have divorced it from healthcare”.

Her account was backed by Baroness Williams, who was junior equalities minister at the time, who said the stories in the media were “completely incorrect”.

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