Results of the second ballot:
- Robert Jenrick – 33 MPs
- Kemi Badenoch – 28 MPs
- James Cleverly – 21 MPs
- Tom Tugendhat – 21 MPs
- Mel Stride – 16 MPs
Total votes cast 119 (no spoilt ballots)
Mel Stride has become the second candidate eliminated in the Conservative leadership contest……after Dame Priti Patel was first to be knocked out last week.
The former Work and Pensions Secretary was 5 MPs behind Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly in joint third on 21 each, and 12 behind Kemi Badenoch, in second, on 28. Tugendhat came third in our members’ survey, and, in this round, caught up with James Cleverly after getting just 17 in the first ballot.
This makes Robert Jenrick the victor, once again, on 33 MPs, 5 votes ahead of his nearest rival.
This time, however Kemi Badenoch has closed the gap between the two, and it is noticeable that, of the four that stay in the race and go to Conference James Cleverly is the only one whose vote tally did not increase from the first ballot.
Now joint with Tom Tugendhat, rumours that Tugendhat’s campaign might be faltering before today, seem premature. And there will no doubt be questions after this round about who of Cleverly and Tugendhat might go further when the third ballot comes in the week beginning the 7th of October.
After the first ballot Assistant Editor William Atkinson asked “will a ‘Stop Badenoch’ campaign take off?” If there is one, and there may be, it doesn’t seem to have had an effect.
The contest, that so far has not seen much real friction between the contenders, may heat up in the next few weeks as their teams are tempted to chip away at any narrative that solidifies on who the final two are likely to be.
The focus now is on Party Conference (29th September to 2nd of October) where more than just MPs will get to see the last four on show. The four will be very keen to demonstrate they all have a respectable caucus of voters within the membership, but it is Kemi Badenoch who will know she has, on the basis of our survey, an advantage.
One final observation: He may now be out but Mel Stride in his Op-Ed on ConservativeHome this morning suggested, despite their huge majority, Labour are beatable in five years. It won’t now be him that leads the charge but – that prospect, that hope, of winning in five years, whatever those outside the Party might think, does seems to be percolating within Conservative parliamentary ranks and may now be more of a prism in this contest than it was when it began.
The next stage for the four left, is literally, in Birmingham.
