Cleverly knocked out of Tory leadership race

Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch are through to the final round of the Conservative leadership race after knocking out James Cleverly.

Former business secretary Kemi Badenoch topped the poll of Tory MPs, securing 42 votes.

Jenrick won the backing of 41 of his colleagues, beating Cleverly, who received 37 votes, into third place.

The final two candidates will now be put to Conservative Party members with the result due on 2 November.

The result, announced in Parliament, was met with gasps from some MPs who had expected Cleverly to get through to the final round.

The former home secretary had delivered a well-received speech at the party’s conference last week and topped the ballot in the third round of voting on Tuesday.

In a message posted on social media following the vote, Cleverly thanked his supporters for their backing adding: “Sadly it wasn’t to be.

“We are all Conservatives, and it’s important the Conservative Party unites to take on this catastrophic Labour government.”

Speaking to the BBC, one senior MP said: “It’s not a result I expected.

“There may have been a degree of complacency in one camp. I did warn colleagues that if they try to game the system they need to be careful about possible problems.

“It seems Tom Tugendhat’s votes went to Robert and Kemi. It’s quite a surprising position.”

The eventual winner of the contest will replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party.

Sunak announced his resignation after the party’s general election defeat earlier this year.

Since September, Conservative MPs have been whittling down the candidate list in a series of votes.

Former home secretary Priti Patel was the first to be knocked out, followed by shadow pensions secretary Mel Stride and then Tugendhat.