James Cleverly wins backing of former rival in Tory leadership race

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Louise Thomas

Editor

James Cleverly‘s hopes of becoming Tory leader have received a major boost ahead of another crucial vote by Conservative MPs today as a former rival endorsed his candidacy.

Mel Stride, who was eliminated in the last round, has come out in support of the former home and foreign secretary as momentum continues to build for him to succeed Mr Sunak.

In a message on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Stride said: “The Conservative Party needs to rebuild trust on economic competence, cutting migration and reforming public services. Strong, clear and measured. James has what it takes. “

Momentum for Mr Cleverly appears to have been building since his speech on the last day of the Tory conference energised the audience with his call for Conservatives to start “being normal again”.

He and former security minister Tom Tugendhat are believed to be vying for the centrist One Nation wing of the Tories.

The four candidates - also including Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick - will be whittled down to just three tomorrow. A further vote on Wednesday will see them reduced to just two for the full party membership to choose from.

Mr Tugendhat has also had a boost to his campaign with former West Midlands mayor Andy Street, a highly influential figure on the left of the Tories, giving him his support today.

While Mr Cleverly spent the first half of the race as an underdog, the leadership contender has stormed ahead in days before the final vote of Tory MPs after wooing party members at their conference in Birmingham.

His pitch to members on the final day, which saw him flaunt his conservative credentials and outline what he would do to win back power for the battered Tory Party, went down far better than many pundits expected.

The former home secretary, who was lagging behind in the polls, appears to have stormed ahead to second place in members’ first preferences just days before the next round of voting.

In a hypothetical head-to-head situation, conducted by grassroots Tory website Conservative Home, Mr Cleverly is now, for the first time, forecast to defeat frontrunner Robert Jenrick - despite the latter currently having the largest number of Tory MPs publicly backing him.

It comes amid briefing against Robert Jenrick’s campaign, with sources The Independent to the fact that his Tory leadership website was registered weeks before the party’s general election defeat, prompting suggestions he was hoping his party would lose.

His “Join Jenrick” site was registered on 1 June, records show, just over a week after former prime minister Rishi Sunak called a general election for 4 July.

Tory MPs will vote in the first ballot from 1.30pm on Tuesday, with the result later in the afternoon. A second and final round of voting will take place on Wednesday before the final decision goes to members.

Mr Cleverly would defeat the former immigration minister by 54 to 36 per cent, the Conservative Home polling suggests, while he would defeat Tom Tugendhat by 67 to 18 per cent.

Last week, the same polling showed that Mr Jenrick led Mr Cleverly by 51 per cent to 37 per cent.

But despite the late surge from Mr Cleverly, rival candidate Kemi Badenoch remains out in front, polling suggests, despite controversies during the party’s conference including missteps on maternity pay and a suggestion that some civil servants “should be in prison”.

The Conservative Home survey suggested she would beat all three of her rivals, winning against Mr Cleverly by 48 to 42 per cent. Ms Badenoch would beat Robert Jenrick by 53 to 33 per cent, while she would beat Tom Tugendhat by 62 to 28 per cent.

Mr Cleverly has seen his odds slashed at the bookmakers, from 15/8 to 11/8, while former odds-on favourite Mr Jenrick has drifted to 6/4 from 5/6 this time last week.

It suggests the former home secretary was not significantly damaged by a row over the Chagos Islands, which saw him blamed for opening up talks to hand over the archipelago before being halted by his successor as foreign secretary, David Cameron.

In a pointed tweet, Mr Tugendhat described the fact that the talks were opened under a Conservative government as “disgraceful”, though he did not namecheck Mr Cleverly.

Third-favourite Ms Badenoch has made a late charge into 3/1 from 9/2 last week, while outsider Mr Tugendhat remains relatively out of favour at 33/1.

William Kedjanyi, political betting analyst at Star Sports, said: “After a strong week at Tory conference and polling showing increased support, James Cleverly appears to have made significant progress in his campaign for next Tory leader, as he steps into outright favouritism for the first time ahead of Robert Jenrick.”

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