David Davis has endorsed Penny Mordaunt to take over from Boris Johnson as the next Conservative leader.

The Conservative MP for Haltemprice and Howden said Ms Mordaunt had the high levels of integrity and competence needed to lead the party and country.

The York-born MP added the Conservatives could not afford to have any less after two years of scandals.

Mr Davis’ endorsement of the Portsmouth North MP brings the total number of Conservative lawmakers backing her to 25.

She is second behind former Chancellor Rishi Sunak who currently leads with 43 endorsements.

Ms Mordaunt is ahead of Tom Tugendhat, the former soldier known for his speech following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, who has 20 backers.

He is followed by Liz Truss, seen as popular among Conservative members, with 19 endorsements.

Mr Davis told Sky News whichever candidate the party selects as leader needed to be able to go before the country without any baggage.

The MP has himself contested the Conservative leadership, losing against David Cameron in 2005 when the party chose Michael Howard’s successor.

The MP said: “We can’t afford any more scandals after the last two years, she’s a woman of incredible integrity.

“We need high competence we’ve got really difficult problems coming up on the economic front and other fronts.

“She’s fantastic in the House of Commons but most of all she’s got a vision for Britain, she’s a patriot and she knows what sort of Conservatism she wants to stand for.

“And she’s the person in the party most likely to beat Rishi Sunak so it’s a formidable combination.”

Mr Davis previously told Sky News he had also considered backing Grant Shapps and Liz Truss.

Ms Mordaunt was first elected as a Conservative MP in 2010 after overturning a previous Labour majority in Portsmouth North.

She was the UK’s first female defence secretary, serving for just shy of two months under Theresa May, is the current trade policy minister and is a Royal Navy reservist.

Her background is in communications for political campaigns and has worked on those of former US President George W. Bush and the Conservatives.

Her proposals include cutting VAT on fuel by 50 per cent to bring the price down by an estimated 20p per litre.

She, along with several other Conservative candidates, has also signalled other taxes could be slashed but has not yet said which ones specifically.

Ms Mordaunt also wrote in The Telegraph  that wider economic reform was needed as well as tax cuts to drive growth and competition.

The MP has also made the future of the union a central theme of her campaign, saying the SNP should not distract and divide with a second Scottish independence referendum.

Ms Mordaunt said in a video launching her leadership bid that people should pick her not because they agree with her on everything but because they trust her motives.

She has also said leadership needed to be less about the leader and more about the ship.

Her campaign has already sparked controversy after her campaign launch video featured footage of former paralympian and convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius.

She has also been criticised after appearing to distance herself from comments in 2018 backing trans people, saying they could not be considered biological women.

Ms Mordaunt also gave an innuendo-laden speech in the Commons in 2013 after losing a bet.