THE next Prime Minister will need to work constructively with Nicola Sturgeon, Rishi Sunak has told Tory activists.

Speaking at the party's final leadership hustings in Wembley, the former Chancellor said the SNP leader and the Welsh First Mark Drakeford were the "legitimately elected leaders of Scotland and Wales."

The comment came after his rival, Liz Truss, stood by her claim that Ms Sturgeon was an attention seeker. 

Last night was the twelfth hustings in the increasingly bitter and divisive two-month-long contest. 

The contest finally ends tomorrow, with voting closing at 5pm. The winner will be announced on Monday, before travelling to Balmoral on Tuesday to be received by the Queen.

Polls suggest Ms Truss will be by some considerable distance the clear winner.

Former leader Ian Duncan Smith pleaded with the members gathered in Wembley to come together when the winner was announced or risk years in the political wilderness.

“Let’s stop it here, let’s stop it now,” he said.

The call from the staunch supporter of Ms Truss was echoed by Michael Gove, as he warmed up the crowd for Mr Sunak.

The challenge for the next Conservative Prime Minister is stark.

Earlier this week, Labour opened up 13-point lead over the Tories, according to a new survey by Deltapoll.

Support has plummeted since the Partygate affair, and the slew of scandals that helped bring down Mr Johnson.

Despite that one of the biggest rounds of applause of the night from activists was for the ousted Prime Minister.

Unexpectedly it was prompted by Mr Gove.

He was instrumental in forcing his former friend out of No 10 and was later sacked by the outgoing Tory leader, and described as a “snake” by a No 10 source.

Nevertheless, the Aberdonian urged the party faithful to show their appreciation.

“Let us never forget, and let us make sure the country never forgets, he was the man who delivered Brexit, he was the man who delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in the world, he was the man who stood resolute with Volodymyr Zelensky and the brave people of Ukraine when others wobbled and shirked,” Mr Gove said.

“So, on behalf of all of us, Boris, thank you for your service.

During questioning, Ms Truss said she believed with “hindsight,” Boris Johnson would be viewed as a “hugely consequential prime minister.”

Asked if he thought Mr Johnson was “hard done-by,” Mr Sunak said: “I think it has been a very difficult period. I worked with him closely for two years and it was very difficult. “What I would say is when it comes to these ethical issues we can’t constantly be on the wrong side of them.”

Meanwhile, Ms Truss refused to say if she thought Donald Trump was “friend or foe.”

The question followed on from an exchange at a hustings last week, when she sparked a diplomatic incident by saying the jury was “out” on whether or not French President Emmanuel Macron was a “friend or foe”.

Initially, Ms Truss paused, before telling host Nick Ferrari: “I am not going to comment on future presidential runners.”

She added: “We have to work with who is in the White House. The United States is our closest ally. I have met both President Trump when he was in office and President Biden now he is in office.

“My priority is working to promote freedom and democracy around the world, to work with our American allies against what are some very severe threats we are facing including an assertive China, a belligerent Russia.”

She also rowed back on her comments about President Macron, adding: “Both the United States and France are freedom-loving democracies and I will work with both of them, whoever the leader is.”

The journalist also quoted some of Ms Truss’s other comments which have been criticised for their undiplomatic language, including her descriptions of Ms Sturgeon as an “attention seeker” and Ms Drakeford as a “low energy Jeremy Corbyn”. “I still agree with myself,” she said to cheers from the crowd.

When Mr Sunak was asked if he thought the Scottish First Minister was an attention seeker, he answered: “I think in all these cases, we have to respect the fact that these are the legitimately elected leaders of Scotland and Wales that the United Kingdom Prime Minister has to obviously work with them constructively, and demonstrate that to the people of Scotland that we can work with them.

“But what do we need to do as Conservatives? We need to take the fight to them and beat them, that’s what we need to do.”

The two clashed on the economy and over the support needed for the cost-of-living crisis. Ms Truss said her two priorities were to cut taxes and to secure the UK’s energy supply. She vowed there would be no new taxes if she became Prime Minister.

She also promised to lay out help when her new government has what would, in effect, be a budget.

She told the audience: “In a fiscal event, the chancellor would address the issue of household support.”

Asked about a new windfall tax to fund measures, Ms Truss said no. That’s despite reports suggesting gas and electricity generators are in line to make £170bn in profit over the next two years.

Mr Sunak refused to rule it out. He said it was the right thing to have done when energy companies were “making billions” because of a war.

“We’ve got it in place and I’m glad I did it.”

The two also disagreed on energy rationing. Ms Truss said "I do rule that out," while Mr Sunak said: "We shouldn’t rule anything out because the challenges that we face with this crisis are significant.”

During questions from party members, Ms Truss was asked if a trans woman was a woman. She replied: “No.” 

“Now, I believe in treating trans people with respect,” she told the crowd. “I think it's important, but we should not confuse that with being clear in our language.”

Another audience member asked if she would consider abolishing the speed limit.

Ms Truss said she would be “prepared to look at that.”