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Louise Thomas
Editor
James Cleverly has surged to the top of the Tory leadership race, winning the backing of the most Conservative MPs after a barnstorming conference performance.
The former home secretary topped the third round ballot of Tory MPs, winning the backing of 39 in total.
It turns the race to succeed Rishi Sunak on its head, with Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch now in a life or death struggle – before party members begin voting on a final two from Thursday.
Former immigration minister Mr Jenrick, who was considered the favourite in the run up to the Tory conference last week in Birmingham, placed second with 31 votes.
Former business secretary Ms Badenoch, a favourite among the Tory rank and file, was third with 30 votes.
Mr Tugendhat, a former security minister and favourite of the One Nation caucus of Tory MPs, was knocked out after being backed by just 20 votes.
The final two will be decided by a further ballot of MPs on Wednesday, before an online ballot of Tory members from 10 to 31 October. The winner of the contest will be announced on 2 November.
The poll results on Tuesday will set up a 24-hour scramble for Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch to try to ensure they have enough support to get to the final two. There is now just one vote separating the two right-wingers, one of whom will take on the more centrist Mr Cleverly, seen as a unifying figure in the party.
It revived debates around dirty tricks being deployed by the different camps, with allies of the warring candidates having previously accused one another of seeking to stitch up the race. After Tuesday’s result, an ally of Mr Jenrick claimed his backers had supported Mr Cleverly in a bid to keep Ms Badenoch off of the final ballot.
“One or two of our supporters got a bit energetic in the stop Kemi campaign,” the ally said.
Another source from Mr Jenrick’s campaign said he was “in prime position to make the final two. MPs want seriousness and competence. That’s why he’s won support from across the party so far – from Danny Kruger on the right to Vicky Atkins on the left”.
A spokesperson for Ms Badenoch’s campaign 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.”
It comes after Mr Cleverly, who was an outsider in the race until the party’s annual gathering in Birmingham, appeared to woo party members with his speech on the final day of the conference, which received the loudest cheers in the hall.
The remarkable turnaround saw him almost double his support among MPs, jumping from 21 votes last round to 39. Mr Jenrick lost two votes to receive 31 while Ms Badenoch picked up just two additional backers to win 30 votes.
The result also suggests Mr Cleverly was unaffected by a row over Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The deal is meant to secure the future of a secretive military base on the island of Diego Garcia, but it has left the UK without sovereign territorial control over a piece of land that is crucial to Western security in the Indian Ocean.
Mr Cleverly condemned the decision as “weak, weak, weak”, before it emerged talks to hand over the islands were instigated by him when he was foreign secretary.
Responding to the result, Mr Cleverly 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.”
Mr Tugendhat thanked his supporters after Tuesday’s ballot. In a post on X, he said: “To everyone who backed our campaign – thank you!
“Your energy, your ideas and your support have shown a vision of what our party could become. Our campaign has ended but our commitment to our country continues.”
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