Voting in race to become the new Conservative Party leader has ENDED: Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick face anxious wait to find out who will replace Rishi Sunak

Voting in the long-running Tory leadership election has closed ahead of the party unveiling Rishi Sunak‘s replacement at the weekend. 

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick face an anxious wait to see who members have backed to lead a Conservative  recovery after July’s election hammering. 

The polls closed at 5pm, almost four months after the party’s humiliation, which saw it kicked out of government after 14 years. 

Ms Badenoch, the former business secretary, is seen as the favourite to win and has picked up the backing of a series of Tory big beasts. 

Ex-chancellor Ken Clarke today became the latest to fall in behind her.

But Mr Jenrick, the former housing secretary, insisted today he was still in the ‘close’ race with hours to go.

After the polls closed he thanked everyone who had ‘supported my vision for the future of the Conservative Party’. 

‘Together we can put an end to the excuses, move past the drama, and unite our party,’ he added.

But Mr Jenrick, the former housing secretary, insisted he is still in the ‘close’ race with hours to go

Last night he lashed out at his rival’s unwillingness to offer policies as part of her campaign, saying that the Conservatives have to be ready to win back voters lost to Nigel Farage‘s reform UK as soon as possible.

‘I think that a plan now is always more valuable than a vague promise of one tomorrow. And I think that people are very sceptical about the Conservative Party right now, particularly on some of these issues like immigration, where we failed,’ he told GB News.

‘We didn’t do enough when we’re in office. And I think just saying that we will think this through, we’ll come forward with policies in the months or years to come, isn’t going to cut it.

‘If my colleagues are on the doorstep trying to persuade people like the audience tonight next year, in the May local elections, perhaps when there are Reform candidates standing against Conservatives, we need to have very clear, crystal clear positions, and that’s what I offer.

‘Kemi doesn’t think that. She thinks that we should spend more time mulling this over. I think that’s a mistake.’

The winner of the race will be announced on Saturday. Immigration, the economy, and how the Conservatives can rebuild trust with the electorate and win back voters they lost at the election have all been discussed at length through the campaign.

The party lost seats to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and ReformUK in the July poll.

Priti Patel, Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly spent the summer campaigning alongside Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch after they put their names forward in the nominations at the end of July.

Ms Patel and Mr Stride were the first two contenders to be eliminated in September, leaving four to by the time the party gathered in Birmingham for their autumn conference at the end of the month.

While the candidates spent four days meeting candidates as they were vying to secure their votes, both Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick found themselves embroiled in rows during the conference.

Ms Badenoch ended up asserting her support for maternity pay after comments caused a controversy.

Meanwhile, Mr Jenrick faced heat from other leadership rivals over claims he made about UK special forces.

Shadow home secretary Mr Cleverly appeared to take the lead after the conference, coming top of the third ballot of MPs with 39 votes, while Mr Tugendhat got knocked out after securing only 20.

There was some surprise when Mr Cleverly then did not make the final two names to be put to members the following day, securing only 37 votes compared to Mr Jenrick’s 41 and Ms Badenoch’s 42.

A survey of Tory members by the ConservativeHome website last week suggested Ms Badenoch had the lead, by 55 per cent to 31 per cent.