For one of the lesser-known members of the cabinet, Penny Mordaunt has an uncanny knack of going viral. The leader of the House of Commons this weekend found herself at the centre of speculation about whether she might be the next Conservative leader after footage of her carrying the sword of state during the coronation was shared around the world. The images of a solemn-faced Mordaunt carrying the 3.6kg jewelled sword for 51 minutes, while dressed in a spectacular teal dress and cape, generated interest in everything from her training regime to the designer who made her outfit. It also prompted a sudden drop in the odds for her to become the next leader of her party. Even her opponents expressed admiration, with Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, tweeting: “Got to say it, Penny Mordaunt looks damn fine! The sword-bearer steals the show.”
Mordaunt’s outfit, complete with a headband embroidered with a gold fern, provided a stark contrast with the court dress worn at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation by her predecessor as lord president of the privy council, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil. It also provided another example of Mordaunt’s skill at seizing photo opportunities to capture public attention and project herself as a Conservative able to appeal to the traditional and modernising wings of her party. In 2014, footage of her jumping backwards off a diving board for the reality television show Splash! was shared by millions, while in 2018 she was noticed for being the first minister to use sign language at the dispatch box. For her supporters, the seriousness with which she approached her ceremonial role at the coronation – she did press-ups and worked in the gym to train her arms and shoulders – demonstrated why she should still be reckoned with as a force within her party, even after several years in the relative political wilderness. “It is not just the photo opportunity, it is that she has the capacity to take the opportunity and do whatever it takes to do it well,” said the Conservative peer Lord Hayward. “If she is going to do something, she does it properly, regardless of the circumstances.” Mordaunt captured attention almost as soon as she entered parliament as the MP for Portsmouth North in 2010. As the daughter of a former paratrooper and herself a naval reserve officer, she quickly specialised in defence affairs. She took a seat on the defence select committee before becoming a junior minister in the Ministry of Defence, and then, for a two-month period at the end of Theresa May’s time in office, defence secretary. As a Brexit supporter with liberal social views – she is a prominent supporter of LGBTQ+ rights – she was able to win friends on all sides of her party. She also fostered a reputation for occasional irreverence. In 2013, she repeatedly used the word “cock” during a debate on poultry welfare as a forfeit for a misdemeanour during Naval Reserve training. As a minister, Mordaunt earned a reputation for warmth and diligence. “She would always take the time to speak to you about something if you expressed an interest in it,” said one colleague. But some in the party have also criticised her attention to detail. When she ran for party leader last year, Lord Frost criticised her for her role in the Brexit negotiations. “I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary,” he said. Mordaunt was eliminated from that contest in the fifth round of voting, and then proceeded to make what some friends believe was her biggest mistake – endorsing Liz Truss. When Truss became prime minister, she demoted Mordaunt to leader of the House of Commons – a relatively obscure job that also comes with the ceremonial title of lord president of the council. The lord president has few actual roles to fulfil, but one of them, as the world discovered on Saturday, is to carry the sword of state at the monarch’s coronation.