James Cleverly leapfrogged his rivals in a shock twist after winning over members at Tory conference last week, where he used his speech to urge the party to ‘be more normal’
Tom Tugendhat has been eliminated from the Tory leadership race.
The ex-Security Minister got just 20 votes, while James Cleverly has surged into the lead with 39 votes. Right-winger Robert Jenrick had been leading the field but only got 31 votes, while rival Kemi Badenoch secured 30 MP backers.
Mr Cleverly leapfrogged his rivals after winning over party faithful at Tory conference last week, where he used his speech to urge the party to “be more normal”. In the previous round, Mr Jenrick had 33 votes, ahead of Ms Badenoch on 28, while Mr Cleverly and Mr Tugendhat both had 21.
The 16 MPs who backed Mel Stride – a more moderate candidate – in the last round appear not to have gone to Mr Tugendhat and instead appear to have mostly shifted to Mr Cleverly.
The knife-edge result will tee up a frantic campaigning spree by Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick ahead of another knockout vote tomorrow. The final two candidates will then head into a run-off vote by party members, with the result announced on November 2.
Mr Tugendhat, who made his military record a key party of his pitch, told members last week: “My mission is to win the next general election. And I have never failed a mission yet.” But after losing his second bid to be leader, he thanked his supporters and said: “Our campaign has ended but our commitment to our country continues.”
His rivals will now try to hoover up his supporters as Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick scramble to stay on the ballot paper.
Mr Cleverly, the new frontrunner, said: “I’m grateful to all my colleagues for their support today, and I’m pleased to be through to the next round. The job’s not finished. I’m excited to keep spreading our positive Conservative message.”
Ms Badenoch’s team urged right-wingers to unite around her “star quality” and took a thinly-veiled swipe at Mr Jenrick, who is battling her to be the standard bearer of the party’s right.
A spokesman said: “There are three candidates left in this contest, two are gaining votes and one is going backwards and losing support. The right of the Conservative Party now needs to coalesce around Kemi, who can reach across and unify the party, has the star quality to cut through in opposition, and is indisputably the members’ choice for leader.”
Both Mr Cleverly and Mr Jenrick have complained that the drawn-out process means a new leader won’t be in place to respond to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget on October 30. Instead Rishi Sunak will be left to respond for the Tories, only days before he hands over the reins.