James Cleverly sensationally DUMPED from Conservative leadership contest as Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick secure votes for final showdown with party members – latest updates
James Cleverly has been sensationally eliminated from the Conservative leadership contest after entering the fourth and final votes by MPs as the frontrunner.
Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick will square off for the chance to become Leader of the Opposition ahead of a vote by party members at the end of the month.
Ms Badenoch won the fourth round with 42 votes, one more than Mr Jenrick while Mr Cleverly secured 37 despite being widely tipped to be in the final two.
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by David Wilcock and James Tapsfield
Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch will battle it out to become the next Tory leader after frontrunner James Cleverly was sensationally knocked out of the election by MPs.
Former home secretary Mr Cleverly took a surprise lead in a vote yesterday, but slumped to third in a fourth and final round of Westminster voting this afternoon.
He had been expected to pick up most of the moderate votes of supporters of Tom Tugendhat, who was knocked out yesterday.
Breaking:Kemi Badenoch wins fourth round of MPs vote
Shadow housing secretary Kemi Badenoch has stormed ahead in the race to succeed Rishi Sunak after winning most votes in the fourth round of voting by MPs.
In a remarkable turnaround, Ms Badenoch won 42 votes, one more than Robert Jenrick while James Cleverly was eliminated with 37.
Here are the full results:
Kemi Badenoch – 42 votes
Robert Jenrick – 41
James Cleverly – 37
Breaking:James Cleverly eliminated from Tory leadership contest
A shock…James Cleverly has been eliminated from the Tory leadership contest.
The Conservative leadership race is approaching the finish line months after Rishi Sunak announced he would stand down in the wake of the general election defeat.
Here’s our timeline of the key dates starting in the summer as three remain in the hunt to oppose Sir Keir Starmer at the Commons despatch box.
Nominations close with six candidates standing for the leadership
September 4 – First round of voting
Robert Jenrick – 28 votes
Dame Priti Patel – 14 (eliminated)
September 10 – Second round
Robert Jenrick – 33 votes
Mel Stride – 16 (eliminated)
29 September to October 2
Conservative Party Conference
October 8 – Third round of voting
Tom Tugendhat – 20 (eliminated)
Conservative members vote on the final two candidates
The new leader is declared
How Tory leadership contenders pitched their campaigns at party conference
Want to know the differences between the final three candidates in the Conservative leadership contest?
MailOnline has put together a guide on everything you need to know about their pitch to run the Tories and take the fight to Sir Keir Starmer as Leader of the Opposition.
Here is a brief rundown of what the trio pitched to Tory members at the party conference in Birmingham:
Said sorry to voters on behalf of the Conservative Party insisting it would ‘do better’ under his leadership
Insisted the Tories must be ‘proud of our record’ and went on the attack at Labour’s freebies row and ‘nanny state’ policy
Said ‘Reform didn’t deliver Brexit, we did’ and there would be ‘no mergers, no deals’ with Nigel Farage
Argued that Britain ‘best days are ahead of us’ and the Tories must be ‘for’ things rather than against them to build a ‘new generation of optimism’
Claimed he reduced net migration by 300,000 rather than ‘walking away’ – in a swipe at rival Robert Jenrick
Pledged to scrap stamp duty and ‘get the heel of the state off of your neck’
He pledged to bring in ‘effective freeze in net migration our country needs’
Vowed to leave ECHR and scrap Human Rights Act
Labour means ‘more tax, more spending, more woke’.
Attacked Keir Starmer saying: ‘The country needs a leader but instead it has an undertaker.’
Attacked Starmer for ‘taking a knee’ to support Black Lives Matter
Warned Tories their 2024 general election defeat could ‘extinguish the Conservative Party’
Claimed Tory students are marked down by uni lecturers because of political views
Said that ‘if the law says you cannot deport a foreign child abuser, than the law is an ass’
Suggested being in opposition could be ‘fun’
Branded it ‘an opportunity to make Angie (Rayner) uncomfortable, to make Rachel (Reeves) wriggle, and make (Sir Keir) Starmer sweat’
Jenrick supporters insist he is well-placed to make final two
Despite the loss of momentum, the campaign behind Robert Jenrick’s bid for the leadership insisted he was in ‘prime position’ to make the final two.
The former immigration minister has adopted a hardline stance on immigration, with a pledge to leave the European Convention on Human Rights – a move opposed by some Tory moderates.
But a campaign spokesman said he was attracting support from other moderates such as former health secretary Victoria Atkins and MPs on the Right.
In a boost for Mr Jenrick, Theresa May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy last night came out in his support.
Having backed Mr Tugendhat until he was knocked out yesterday, Mr Timothy said the only remaining candidate offering ‘unsparing analysis of why we lost and what we must do next’ was Mr Jenrick.
Ex-Tory leader backs Kemi Badenoch
Ms Badenoch received an early boost ahead of voting as a former Conservative leader voiced his support for her leadership bid.
Iain Duncan Smith, who led the Tories from 2001 to 2003, said Ms Badenoch was the right person to grow the party over the next five years heading into the next general election.
The MP for Chingford and Woodford Green announced his endorsement on social media earlier today.
While Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the Liaison Committee, also revealed he was backing the former business secretary.
Watch: Farage claims Cleverly is only competent leader
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described James Cleverly as the only competent leader of the Conservative Party following his appearance at the party conference in Birmingham.
Speaking in Westminster, Mr Farage added Robert Jenrick’s camapign was faltering as he warned ‘You can’t out-Farage Farage’.
Watch: How James Cleverly stole a march over leadership rivals
Mr Cleverly enjoyed a breathtaking advance after being seen as the best performer at Tory conference in Birmingham last week, going from 21 supporters to 39.
With only 121 Conservative MPs after Rishi Sunak’s disastrous election result, that is just one short of the figure that guarantees his spot in the run-off.
The shadow home secretary is also widely expected to pick up the bulk of the 20 backers assembled by Tom Tugendhat, who was eliminated last night after coming fourth.
Watch below to see how Mr Cleverly has gained momentum throughout the contest:
Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are engaged in a desperate battle to keep their Tory leader hopes alive today as MPs prepare to choose a final two.
The shadow housing secretary and ex-immigration minister are scrambling for support from colleagues after a shock surge from James Cleverly saw him installed as favourite.
Rival camps swiped that MPs had stopped ‘buying the bullsh**’ from Mr Jenrick after he slipped back in the latest ballot yesterday – dropping two votes to end up on 31, just one ahead of Ms Badenoch who was up two.
Good afternoon
Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the Conservative leadership contest as the race to elect a new party leader nears the finish line.
James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch will be hoping to secure their spot in the final two as another round of voting among takes place today.
The momentum appears to be behind Mr Cleverly who leapt ahead in the race to succeed Mr Sunak with 39 votes in the last round which saw Tom Tugendhat eliminated to follow Mel Stride and Dame Priti Patel’s exit from the contest.
Today marks the last round of MPs voting. After the result is declared, it’ll be down to Conservative Party members to decide the next leader with the winner expected to be crowned on Saturday, November 2.
Stick with our live coverage this afternoon as we bring you all the developments ahead of the announcement which is expected around 3.30pm.