Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch will battle it out for the Tory crown after MPs sensationally evicted frontrunner James Cleverly tonight.
A day of extraordinary behind-the-scenes manoeuvring at Westminster culminated in the bombshell departure of the shadow home secretary.
Having come first in the ballot of his colleagues yesterday, Mr Cleverly slumped to third on 37 – behind both Ms Badenoch on 42 and Robert Jenrick on 41.
There were audible gasps in the Parliamentary committee room as the figures were read out.
The result sparked a bitter blame game between bewildered Tories – often described as the most duplicitous electorate in the world – with fevered speculation about dirty tricks by rival camps.
Some claimed that Mr Cleverly’s allies had ‘loaned’ support to Mr Jenrick in a bid to secure an easier opponent in the vote by party members.
Others suggested the opposite, that Mr Jenrick had marshalled extra backing for Mr Cleverly in the previous round and then recalled it.
However, both teams denied using double-dealing tactics, and the reaction from many MPs was confusion.
Asked what had happened, one despairing MP who backed Mr Cleverly said: ‘God knows.’ They added: ‘Tory MPs are too inward looking.’
Other Conservatives griped that too many MPs were ‘thought they were in House of Cards‘. Mr Cleverly himself admitted it was ‘massively disappointing’.
Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick are the final two for the Tory leadership
Former home secretary Mr Cleverly took a surprise lead in a vote yesterday, but slumped to third in a fourth and final round of Westminster voting this afternoon.
He had been expected to pick up most of the moderate votes of supporters of Tom Tugendhat, who was knocked out yesterday.
The shock will see Mr Jenrick, the former immigration minister go up against Ms Badenoch, the ex-business secretary, who is seen as the favourite of the grassroots, in a ballot of party member.
Mr Cleverly at Boris Johnson’s book launch in London last night
Mr Cleverly had taken a surprise lead in the vote yesterday, having been praised for his strong speech to party conference in Birmingham last week.
However, despite taking on the mantle of bookies’ favourite he slumped to third in a fourth and final round of Westminster voting this afternoon.
He had been expected to pick up most of the moderate votes of supporters of Tom Tugendhat, who was knocked out yesterday.
But he actually lost votes, which will fuel suspicions that his backers loaned too many votes to Mr Jenrick in order to keep Ms Badenoch out the final two today.
One veteran Tory aide said: ‘Some must have left James to try and stop the right winger they liked least… the Cleverly whips have lost control of the numbers.’
The shock will see Mr Jenrick, the former immigration minister go up against Ms Badenoch, the ex-business secretary, who is seen as the favourite of the grassroots, in a ballot of party member. The result will be announced on November 2.
It means that the next leader will be from the right of the party, which both candidates taking a hard line on issues including immigration and woke culture.
Mr Cleverly said: I’m grateful for the support I’ve received on this campaign from colleagues, party members and the public. 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 jubilant Mark Francois told Sky News that Mr Jenrick was the ‘comeback kid of British politics’. ‘The MPs, we’ve discharged our duty… we’ve given two strong candidates for the members to choose from,’ he said.
The former minister insisted he did not think there had been any ‘vote lending’ but said: ‘When you’ve only got 121 people with a vote it’s genuinely not a good idea to get too clever for your own good… you vote for the person you want to win.’
Asked what had happened, one despairing MP who backed Mr Cleverly said: ‘God knows.’ They added: ‘Tory MPs are too inward looking.’
Mr Jenrick’s campaign denied they had engaged in any vote-lending during the balloting of MPs, but suggested a ‘number of different things’ had led to the shock ousting of Mr Cleverly.
A campaign source said: ‘I think James’ support was ostensibly very deep, but perhaps people took a different look overnight.
‘I think there were some MPs that wanted to keep Rob off the ballot paper over his position on the ECHR. I think there were some MPs that felt the same about other candidates.
‘I think all of those things were all happening all at the same time and I think you had 120 different MPs voting 120 different ways for 120 different reasons.’
The source admitted there was ‘a moment of real nerves’ within Team Jenrick last night, but hailed how their candidate was now ‘the one with the momentum going into the final two’.
In a swipe at Ms Badenoch’s combative character, they said Tory members now faced a choice between ‘a candidate with a serious plan of detailed policies’ versus ‘being drawn into endless rabbit holes, petty spats and distractions’.
‘Rob is going to be continuing to make his case that we need a detailed policy plan that regains the British public’s trust on the biggest issues facing this country,’ the source added.
‘There’s no doubt yesterday evening Rob Jenrick was written off… and what happened today was one of the most sensational comebacks in British political history.’
Team Jenrick threw down the gauntlet to Ms Badenoch to now engage in a series of TV debates, saying their candidate will go head-to-head ‘anytime, any place, anywhere’.
Mr Jenrick and Mr Tugendhat, the former security minister who was eliminated from the Tory contest yesterday, spoke by phone this morning.
The campaign source suggested some of Mr Tugendhat’s supporters flocked to Mr Jenrick in today’s vote.
Mr Jenrick’s campaign threw down the gauntlet to Ms Badenoch to engage in a series of TV debates, saying their candidate will go head-to-head ‘anytime, any place, anywhere’.
Prior to today’s vote, Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick had been engaged in a desperate battle to keep their Tory leader hopes alive.
The shadow housing secretary and ex-immigration minister were scrambling for support from colleagues after a shock surge from Mr Cleverly saw him installed as favourite.
Rival camps swiped that MPs had stopped ‘buying the bullsh**’ from Mr Jenrick after he slipped back in the latest ballot yesterday – dropping two votes to end up on 31, just one ahead of Ms Badenoch who was up two.
Mr Cleverly enjoyed a breathtaking advance after being seen as the best performer at Tory conference in Birmingham last week, going from 21 supporters to 39.
With only 121 Conservative MPs after Rishi Sunak‘s disastrous election result, that is just one short of the figure that guarantees his spot in the run-off.
The shadow home secretary was also widely expected to pick up the bulk of the 20 backers assembled by Mr Tugendhat, who was eliminated last night after coming fourth.
Surveys by the grass roots ConservativeHome website have suggested that Mr Cleverly would defeat Mr Jenrick but could struggle against Ms Badenoch.
Mr Cleverly – who last night attended the launch of Boris Johnson’s book Unleashed in London with his wife Susannah – paid tribute to his ‘close friend’ Mr Tugendhat, saying that he would ‘have a big role to play in our party’s future’.
But allies rejected claims he would now lend support to him to avoid a showdown with Mrs Badenoch.
One said: ‘We’re clear – MPs need to vote for the candidate they want to win, and we think that should be James. That’s what we’re saying to MPs. Absolutely no games.’
One source from a rival camp told MailOnline that MPs had ‘stopped buying the bullsh**’ from Mr Jenrick.
Iain Duncan Smith is the latest Tory MP to back Kemi Badenoch in the leadership contest today
‘Now that’s become obvious people are ditching him. He had careerist supporters who now know he can’t win,’ they said.
A veteran Tory aide said: ‘Those Bobby J baseball caps have blown him up, just like David Davis with the DD for Me shirts.’
Ms Badenoch’s supporters said falling support for Mr Jenrick among MPs showed he could not win.
A campaign spokesman said: ‘There are three candidates left in this contest, two are gaining votes and one is going backwards.
‘The Right of the party needs to coalesce around Kemi, who has the star quality to cut through in opposition and is indisputably the members’ choice for leader.’
Despite the loss of momentum, Mr Jenrick’s campaign insisted he was in ‘prime position’ to make the final two.
The former immigration minister has adopted a hardline stance on immigration, with a pledge to leave the European Convention on Human Rights – a move opposed by some Tory moderates.
But a campaign spokesman said he was attracting support from other moderates such as former health secretary Victoria Atkins and MPs on the Right.
Tom Tugendhat was the latest to be eliminated in yesterday’s Tory leader ballot
One of Mr Jenrick’s MP supporters took a swipe at Mrs Badenoch, saying: ‘MPs have a choice between a serious and competent leader or, on a weekly basis, having to defend attacks on Doctor Who, and madcap ideas like lowering maternity pay, the end of free care with the NHS and how the minimum wage is too high.’
In a boost for Mr Jenrick, Theresa May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy last night came out in his support.
Having backed Mr Tugendhat until he was knocked out yesterday, Mr Timothy said the only remaining candidate offering ‘unsparing analysis of why we lost and what we must do next’ was Mr Jenrick.
Tory party members will vote on the final two candidates with the result due to be announced on November 2.
