Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt kept their rival Liz Truss at arm's length in a second round of Tory leadership balloting on Thursday, with Suella Braverman knocked out of the race to be Britain's next prime minister.
Ms Mordaunt's bid to be Britain's third female leader continued to gather momentum as she made the biggest second-round gains, despite a stinging swipe at her credentials from senior Brexiteer Lord Frost and a first major campaign speech by Ms Truss on Thursday.
Former chancellor Mr Sunak remained at the front of the pack with 101 votes, bringing him within sight of the threshold of 120 that will guarantee entry to the final-round vote.
“We are building good, solid momentum,” said Mark Harper, a former chief whip who is part of Mr Sunak’s campaign. “The next round is by far going to the be most important."
With Ms Mordaunt second on 83, Ms Truss, the foreign secretary, has some work to do from her third-place position on 64 - although she will hope to pick up much of Ms Braverman's pro-Brexit support.
Ms Truss used her launch speech to emphasise her cabinet experience compared to the relatively unknown Ms Mordaunt and promise to build an economically stronger "aspiration nation".
But supporters of Ms Mordaunt celebrated the result after she gained 16 new supporters, increasing her lead over Ms Truss. If she does make it to the final pair, polls show her as favourite to win the contest among the 200,000 Conservative members.
Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch was fourth in Thursday's ballot with 49, while backbench MP Tom Tugendhat is the fifth and final contender still standing after winning 32 votes.
The remaining five contenders will now face a testing bout of three television debates starting with a Channel 4 programme on Friday, with Mr Tugendhat insisting he will stay in the race despite shedding five votes from the first round.
Outsiders Ms Badenoch and Ms Tugendhat will have little to lose from what will be a stiff examination of the three leading contenders, which will come amid an increasingly bitter briefing war between the candidates.
“The campaign for a clean start continues … I will be putting my vision for Britain forward to the public at the TV debates next week,” Mr Tugendhat said.
Ms Braverman, the attorney general, who had positioned herself as a hardline Brexiteer, was eliminated after winning just 27 votes.
Supporters of Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi, the two candidates eliminated in Wednesday's first round, appeared to scatter across the field, with allies of Ms Truss arguing that there was little to gain for their candidate from those camps.
While the Braverman and Badenoch blocs are seen as opportunities for Ms Truss to consolidate the Tory right, the 32 votes carried by Mr Tugendhat are more likely to favour Ms Mordaunt if he is eliminated.
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Conservative Party members will chose between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak in the race to become Britain's next prime minister, after Penny Mordaunt was eliminated. PA -
Rishi Sunak — former chancellor who resigned from his position last week. In a slick campaign video he said the government could not afford to fool voters about the difficulties ahead with ‘comforting fairy tales’. Getty Images -
Liz Truss — the UK’s Foreign Secretary has pledged to start cutting taxes 'from day one' if she becomes prime minister, to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. She has also vowed to ‘take the vital steps necessary’ to protect the Good Friday Agreement. Getty Images -
OUT OF THE RACE: Penny Mordaunt — Brexit-backing Trade Minister has insisted the Conservative Party was elected to ‘deliver a manifesto’. She played a prominent role in the Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum. Reuters -
OUT OF THE RACE: Kemi Badenoch — former equalities minister has promised 'limited government' and 'a focus on the essentials'. She has said Boris Johnson was 'a symptom of the problems we face, not the cause of them'. Photo: UK Parliament -
OUT OF THE RACE: Tom Tugendhat —Foreign Affairs Committee chairman and ‘Remainer’ aims to reverse the national insurance rise. He says the presence of Brexit party and Leave figures on his team is reassuring for Brexiteers. Reuters -
OUT OF THE RACE: Suella Braverman — current Attorney General has promised 'rapid and large tax cuts' to ease inflation. She has said the energy crisis means 'we must suspend the all-consuming desire to achieve net zero by 2050'. Reuters -
OUT OF THE RACE: Nadhim Zahawi — newly appointed Chancellor has promised to cut taxes and push ahead with the reforms he started in his previous role as education secretary, to ‘deliver a great education for every child’. PA -
OUT OF THE RACE: Jeremy Hunt — runner-up to Boris Johnson in the 2019 leadership race, who has pledged to slash corporation tax to 15 per cent. He has also promised to back the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. AFP -
OUT OF THE RACE: Rehman Chishti — newly appointed Foreign Office minister had spoken of the importance of lower taxes and having a small state with a big society. 'It’s about aspirational conservatism, it’s about fresh ideas and then it comes down to having a fresh team.' Getty Images -
OUT OF THE RACE: Sajid Javid — experienced former health secretary had planned to scrap the government’s national insurance increase, bring forward the proposed 1p income tax cut to next year and introduce a further ‘significant’ temporary reduction on fuel duty. PA -
OUT OF THE RACE: Grant Shapps — the Transport Secretary had said on TV: 'I am interested in the bread-and-butter issues that your viewers will be thinking about every single day of the week.' AP
Unless anyone drops out, three more votes will be needed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to cut the field down to two. Conservative Party members will then be asked to choose between the two finalists.
There are 358 Tory MPs and the threshold to enter the final round is effectively 120, since it would be mathematically impossible for someone with that many votes to have two opponents in front of them.
The five remaining candidates face a frenetic weekend with three separate televised debates and an increasingly bitter briefing war within the party, despite appeals from MPs to keep things civil.
Speaking after the result was announced, Ms Braverman declined to say who she would back in the Tory leadership contest after she was eliminated from the race – but chose to criticise Ms Mordaunt.
She indicated she would back the candidate who will “stop illegal migration across the Channel”, and deliver “Brexit opportunities”, a “tough line on identity politics” and tax cuts.
Asked about criticisms of Ms Mordaunt, Ms Braverman said: “I disagree with Penny on some key issues, in relation to one specific matter, the maternity Bill that was passed for my benefit when I had my baby last year.
“Penny Mordaunt ... did oppose and did resist the inclusion of the word woman and the word mother and did only concede after unsustainable pressure from the House of Lords.
“I was quite disappointed by the way in which it was handled and the responsible minister I’m afraid didn’t stand up for women.”
Ms Mordaunt was also hit by a remarkable verbal missile on Wednesday from former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost, who said she was so ineffective as a member of his team that he had to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to remove her.
“I'm quite surprised that she is where she is in this leadership race,” Lord Frost told Talk TV. “I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary in the negotiations.”
At her launch event, Ms Truss said she would not attack her rival directly but pointedly talked up her own experience in senior cabinet roles, in a thinly-veiled contrast with the relatively unknown Ms Mordaunt.
Ms Truss pitched herself as a candidate ready to “hit the ground running” as prime minister and oversee tax cuts and economic reforms to lift Britain's economy out of a high-price malaise.
She said she had stayed in the cabinet out of loyalty to the departing Mr Johnson but told supporters and journalists she had privately opposed a tax increase that took effect in April.
Mr Sunak meanwhile rejected the suggestion that his considerable personal wealth and background as a banker would make him a poor fit for a country struggling with soaring bills.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the furlough scheme he oversaw as chancellor was an example of him standing up for less wealthy people.
“I don’t judge people by their bank accounts, I judge them by their character, and I think people can judge me by my actions over the past couple of years,” she said.
Mr Tugendhat said rival candidates were trying to lure him into their camp but that he would not withdraw from the race because some MPs might change their minds.
The former soldier, the only candidate still standing who did not serve in any ministerial role under Mr Johnson, said he was “untainted by the last two years” of scandal surrounding the government.
Mr Johnson, who bowed to a cabinet mutiny and announced his resignation last Thursday, is expected to leave Downing Street the day after the new Tory leader is chosen, meaning the new prime minister will take office on September 6.
Conservatives on the campaign trail — in pictures
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Candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss at the Conservative Party leadership election hustings at Wembley Arena, London. This was the final hustings attended by Tory Party members who will vote for the new leader and next prime minister. EPA -
Liz Truss addresses Conservative Party members at Wembley Arena. AP -
Mr Sunak puts forward his case to be leader while speaking at Wembley Arena. Bloomberg -
Mr Sunak visits his family's old business, Bassett Pharmacy in Southampton, while on the campaign trail. Reuters -
Ms Truss speaks to staff at Condimentum Ltd at the Food Enterprise Park in Norwich. Getty Images -
A Rishi Sunak supporter at a hustings event in Norfolk. PA -
Mr Sunak greets people at a leadership hustings in Manchester. Bloomberg -
Ms Truss poses for a selfie with a supporter as she arrives for the event in Manchester. Getty -
Rishi Sunak looks through the sights of an anti-tank missile launcher, supplied to Ukraine, during a visit to the Thales Defence System plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland. AP -
Liz Truss at a Conservative Party leadership campaign event in Belfast. Getty -
Liz Truss meets supporters before a hustings in Perth, Scotland. Getty -
Rishi Sunak speaks during a campaign visit to Cluny Castle in Inverurie, Scotland. Getty -
Police hold back protesters outside Perth Concert Hall, Scotland, where Conservative leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were speaking. PA -
A mural showing the two leadership contestants appears on a wall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. AP -
Rishi Sunak during a visit to St John's Wood Synagogue, north London. PA -
Liz Truss at the Conservative Party leadership election hustings in Cheltenham. EPA -
Rishi Sunak during a hustings event in Cheltenham. Reuters -
Liz Truss speaks to scientists during a campaign visit to a life sciences laboratory at Alderley Park in Manchester. PA -
Rishi Sunak during a campaign hustings in Darlington, England. Bloomberg -
Liz Truss meets party members before she speaks at the Darlington campaign hustings. Getty -
Rishi Sunak arrives for the Darlington hustings. Getty -
Liz Truss plays pool during a visit to the Onside Future Youth Zone in London. Reuters -
Rishi Sunak looks at a book with Teddy Openshaw, 4, as his father, Henry, looks on after a Conservative leadership campaign event in Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. Getty -
Liz Truss plays table tennis with former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith during a visit to the Onside Future Youth Zone in London. Reuters -
Liz Truss with supporters at a campaign event in Solihull, England. Reuters -
Rishi Sunak attends a campaign event held by his party in Bexhill, England. Reuters -
A protester is removed as Ms Truss speaks during the Conservative Party leadership hustings in Eastbourne. Bloomberg -
Mr Sunak speaks at an event in Edinburgh. PA -
Ms Truss leaves the hall in Exeter, south-west England, after her speech to a Conservative Party membership hustings. Getty -
Mr Sunak speaks at the University of Exeter in south-west England. AP -
A supporter of Ms Truss at a Conservative Party hustings in Exeter, south-west England. Getty -
Ms Truss at a hustings event at the Pavilion conference centre at Elland Road in Leeds. PA -
Mr Sunak in Salisbury watching a screening of the Uefa Women's Euro 2022 final between England and Germany at Wembley stadium. England won 2-1 in extra time. PA -
Ms Truss before the Uefa Women's Euro 2022 final at Wembley stadium in London. AFP -
Mr Sunak meets Tory members at Fontwell Park Racecourse. Reuters -
Ms Truss at an event in Dereham, Norfolk. AFP -
Mr Sunak in Ropley, near Winchester, Hampshire. PA -
Ms Truss speaks as Conservative Member of Parliament Tom Tugendhat looks on at a Conservative Party leadership campaign event at Biggin Hill Airport. Getty -
Ms Truss on the campaign trail in Woodford Green, on the outskirts of London. Reuters -
Mr Sunak at a Conservative Party hustings event in Leeds. AFP -
Ms Truss speaks at the hustings event in Leeds. AFP -
Sunak and Truss-themed souvenirs at a stand during the Leeds hustings event. Reuters -
Ms Truss, and her mother, Patricia, arrive for the hustings event. Getty -
Ms Truss poses with supporters in Morley, England. Getty -
Mr Sunak delivers a speech during a campaign event in Newmarket. AFP -
Ms Truss and Jake Berry, MP for Rossendale and Darwen, during a visit to a broadband interchange company in Leeds. PA -
Mr Sunak answers questions as he takes part in the hustings in Leeds. AFP -
Ms Truss speaks at an event at a private house with members of the Conservative Party in Woodford Green. PA -
Ms Truss and Mr Sunak pose for a picture before a BBC leadership debate at Victoria Hall in Hanley. Getty -
Ms Truss addresses Mr Sunak during the televised debate. Getty -
Mr Sunak, with daughters Krishna and Anushka, and wife Akshata Murthy, during a visit to Vaculug tyre specialists at Gonerby Hill Foot, Grantham. PA -
Ms Truss speaks to people while campaigning in Marden. Getty -
Ms Truss celebrates after being named, along with Mr Sunak, one of the final two candidates in the race to become the UK's next prime minister. PA -
Mr Sunak outside his campaign office in central London. EPA -
Ms Truss outside Downing Street in London. Reuters -
Rishi Sunak meets Conservative Party members and activists, in Teesport, Redcar. Reuters -
Conservative leadership candidates Mr Sunak, Ms Truss, Kemi Badenoch, presenter Julie Etchingham, Tom Tugendhat and Penny Mordaunt during 'Britain's Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate' in London. EPA -
Ms Badenoch arrives at Here East studios in Stratford, east London, before a live television debate. PA -
Mr Sunak arrives at a London event to launch his campaign to be the next Conservative Party leader and UK prime minister. Reuters -
Mr Tugendhat appears on the BBC One current affairs programme, 'Sunday Morning'. PA -
Ms Badenoch, Ms Mordaunt, Mr Sunak, Ms Truss and Mr Tugendhat before the live television debate. PA -
Ms Mordaunt arrives for the launch of her Conservative leadership campaign at the Cinnamon Club in Westminster. PA -
Ms Truss speaks at the launch event for her campaign to become the next leader of the Tory Party and Britain's prime minister, in London. EPA -
Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi, one of the candidates who has been knocked out of the race, giving a speech at the Churchill War Rooms. PA -
Former leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme, 'Sunday Morning'. PA -
Sajid Javid attending the launch of his campaign to be Conservative Party leader and prime minister, at the Cinnamon Club in London. He has since been knocked out of the contest. PA -
Rehman Chishti is interviewed after announcing his bid to become the next prime minister. Mr Chishti is no longer in the race. Getty -
Mr Tugendhat speaking at the launch of his campaign. PA -
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith arrive for the Truss campaign launch event. Getty -
Former leadership candidate Attorney General Suella Braverman at the Churchill War Rooms in central London. PA -
Supporters of Mr Sunak wait for his arrival ahead of the campaign launch. Bloomberg -
Mr Tugendhat makes a speech at the launch of his campaign. PA -
Mr Javid mops his brow while launching his campaign. Getty -
Ms Truss leaves for work after her announcement that she would be running for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Getty
