Chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady has announced that six MPs will continue to fight on in the Conservative Party leadership race.
Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman and Tom Tugendhat remain in the contest.
Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, Jeremy Hunt, and newly-elected Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi have been eliminated from the race.
Mr Hunt and Mr Zahawi failed to secure the support of 30 MPs, leaving six Tory candidates to battle for the role of leader.
Sir Graham Brady announced the six candidates who made it through to the second ballot
Stefan Rousseau
The full breakdown of votes is as follows:
- Rishi Sunak: 88
- Penny Mordaunt: 67
- Liz Truss: 50
- Kemi Badenoch: 40
- Tom Tugendhat: 37
- Suella Braverman: 32
Those six who made it through will now proceed to a series of votes among MPs, eliminating the last placed candidate in each round until a final two are left.
The remaining two will then face Conservative Party members at a series of hustings around the country over the summer, who will vote to select the new leader, and therefore Prime Minister.
Following Sir Graham's announcement, senior backbencher Tom Tugendhat, tweeted: “This is a fantastic result.
“I’m delighted to be going through to the next round with the momentum we need to change this country for the better. Our country needs #ACleanStart.”
The six MPs through to the second ballot
GB NEWS
Penny Mordaunt remains the bookies favourite to become the next Prime Minister
Aaron Chown
MPs were seen filing into the Commons to vote, with former Chief Whip Gavin Williamson being one of the last to vote, turning up at 3.26pm.
A spokeswoman for Ms Truss said: “Now is the time for colleagues to unite behind the candidate who will cut taxes, deliver the real economic change we need from day one and ensure Putin loses in Ukraine.
“Liz has the experience to deliver the benefits of Brexit from day one, grow our economy and support working families.”
In the wake of the announcement, Ms Mordaunt remains the 4/5 odds-on favourite to be the next Tory leader, despite Mr Sunak, 7/2, winning the first leadership ballot on Wednesday evening.
Gambling company, BetFair, confirmed that Ms Truss followed swiftly behind Mr Sunak, with odds of 9/2, after the departure of Mr Hunt and Mr Zahawi from the competition.
After dropping out of the leadership contest with 18 votes in the first ballot, Jeremy Hunt warned the remaining candidates “smears and attacks may bring short-term tactical gain but always backfire long term”.
Jeremy Hunt was eliminated from the contest, failing to secure the backing of 30 MPs
Aaron Chown
Nadhim Zahawi was eliminated from the campaign
James Manning
“A gentle word of advice to the remaining candidates: smears & attacks may bring short term tactical gain but always backfire long term,” he tweeted.
“The nation is watching & they’ve had enough of our drama; be the broad church & unbeatable, election winning machine that our country deserves.”
GB News reporter, Tom Harwood, confirmed that the second round of voting will commence at 11.30am and close at 13.30pm tomorrow.
He added: "No new threshold, just a process of elimination.
"If more than two candidates remain after that (some may choose to drop out), the next round is currently scheduled for Monday."
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi did not announce his favoured candidate for the Tory leadership after he was removed from the race.
In a statement, he said: “I am very grateful for the support of colleagues in this leadership election and to Conservatives up and down the country who have got behind me and sent me best wishes.
“Clearly my part in the contest has now ended.
“I don’t intend to make any further intervention, but I wish all the candidates in the leadership contest the very best of luck."
After securing 40 votes to progress through the first ballot of the leadership contest, former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch tweeted: “I am grateful that so many colleagues supported me this evening.
“To win the next election and deliver Conservative solutions to today’s problems, our party must stand as the party for change.
“I have the conviction, the courage, and the clarity of thought to deliver that change.”
