Tom Tugendhat was eliminated from the Conservative party leadership race on Monday night after failing to secure enough votes from MPs.
The former army officer was removed after securing only 31 backers despite giving a widely praised performance during the leadership debates.
The departure of the moderate One Nation Tory means that there only right-wing candidates, although Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, and Penny Mordaunt will be regarded as more centrist contenders.
Kemi Badenoch increased her support significantly getting to 58 votes and Mr Sunak had 115 backers, which is five short of the 120 needed to get into the final pair.
Ms Mordaunt, who suffered a weekend of media scrutiny and smear stories, lost one vote, going back to 82, but remains in second place.
Liz Truss went from 64 to 71, showing a slight increase but not as big as she had hoped. It could still prove that some of Ms Badenoch's supporters go to her rather than Ms Mordaunt.
The ill-tempered nature of the contest, which has included media leaks, led to the final debate being terminated on Tuesday night.
The candidates' attacks on each other has provided Labour with considerable ammunition and led to the suggestion that the opposition party was the only winner.
Ms Badenoch, who was educated in Nigeria until she was 16, had the biggest boost in support with an 18 per cent increase from the second ballot tally of 49.
Mr Sunak had the second largest increase, 14 per cent, followed by Ms Truss with 11 per cent.
Ms Mordaunt lost one vote, possibly to Mr Sunak, but is likely to pick up numbers from Mr Tugendhat's departure.
Fourth-placed Ms Badenoch's continued surge could well see her threaten Ms Truss if she can persuade MPs to enter her camp in the next vote tomorrow.
Mr Tugendhat, 49, was the only candidate not to have served in Boris Johnson’s discredited administration and had presented himself as the “clean slate” candidate.
But the foreign affairs committee chairman has had no experience in government. He served alongside special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2005 and 2009.
But Mr Tugendhat's direct, open style and integrity appealed to a broader audience, which saw him top a Mumsnet poll for the person those surveyed would most like to see as Britain’s prime minister.
His popularity and straightforward approach is likely to lead to a senior post when the next prime minister is announced on September 5.
The votes came after an afternoon on the hustings in Westminster in which candidates pitched their policies to fellow Conservative MPs to win their votes.
Mr Tugendhat admitted earlier on Monday that he was likely to be eliminated but did not want to drop out so the contest would run to Wednesday, putting the remaining candidates under further scrutiny.
After his elimination he tweeted: “I have been overwhelmed by the response we have received across the country.
"People are ready for a clean start and our party must deliver on it and put trust back into politics.”
It remains unclear if he will come out in favour of a particular candidate, but it is thought that most of his 31 votes — one less than his tally last Thursday — will go to Ms Mordaunt, who is a Royal Navy reservist.
That could yet give her the impetus to gain the 120 votes to get her through to the final two spots, from which the leader will be chosen by the estimated 200,000 Conservative membership after six weeks of hustings.
The next MPs’ ballot will take place at 3pm on Tuesday, followed by the final one on Wednesday afternoon.
Tory leadership contenders: Who could replace Boris Johnson?
Later on Monday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government won a confidence vote in the House of Commons after a bad-tempered, five-hour debate.
Mr Johnson is now expected to continue in his role for the next seven weeks until a new Conservative party leader is chosen to replace him.
MPs voted 349 to 238 to support the motion stating that the Commons had confidence in the government.
Mr Johnson used his opening speech to run through what he perceived to be his greatest successes in office as he averted calls for him to resign immediately rather than wait until September 5.
He spoke at length amid heckling from the Opposition benches about Brexit, support for Ukraine and his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Johnson also told MPs that he would have “more to say” about the events surrounding his downfall “in due course”.
