Former home secretary James Cleverly eliminated from Tory leadership race

Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch will go head-to-head in the final heat of the Conservative Party leadership contest, after James Cleverly was knocked out in the latest round of voting.

Former home secretary Cleverly was eliminated in Wednesday’s ballot of Tory MPs, following Tom Tugendhat who was knocked out on Tuesday.

Badenoch won 42 votes and Jenrick 41 votes, to Cleverly’s 37 votes in the latest ballot, with 120 Tory MPs having taken part.

The final round of the contest will now see Conservative Party members across the UK vote to select the successor to Rishi Sunak.

Former home secretary James Cleverly UK Parliament

The result will be announced on November 2.

Badenoch and Jenrick are both seen as candidates favoured by the right of the Conservative Party, while Cleverly was thought of as a more centre-ground Tory.

The latest result has upset many predictions in Westminster and beyond, as Cleverly was seen as the bookmakers’ favourite to win the contest after Tuesday’s round of voting.

Allies of Cleverly suggested there was at no point any co-ordinated vote lending from their campaign to other candidates.

Such a move could be used to ensure a more threatening leadership rival were eliminated.

After the vote came in, Cleverly thanked his supporters on X, formerly Twitter.

“I’m grateful for the support I’ve received on this campaign from colleagues, party members and the public,” he said.

Cleverly added: “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.”

A spokesman for Badenoch’s campaign said: “We’re delighted that Kemi has topped the vote. As the members’ choice throughout, she is the best placed to unite the parliamentary party and the Conservative Party membership.

“Kemi is now looking forward to taking her campaign for renewal around the country and making the case for politics with principles.”

Labour meanwhile said the Conservative Party membership now has the “unenviable task of choosing between two of the architects of Tory failure”.

Ellie Reeves, Labour Party chairwoman, added: “Both Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are central figures in 14 years of hapless leadership and decline, and have already proven they’ve learned nothing from the mistakes that took the Conservative Party to its worst defeat in modern history.

“While the endless bickering continues, Labour is fixing the foundations and sorting out the mess that these two deeply unimpressive figures left behind.”