James Cleverly has been eliminated and won't go to the vote of members
Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are the final two candidates in the Conservative Party leadership election. This comes as Tory MPs voted in their final ballot to determine which contenders would go to a vote of party members.
In a shock result, James Cleverly – who won the penultimate ballot – has been eliminated from the contest.
Kemi Badenoch received 42 votes and Robert Jenrick received 41.
Cleverly received just 37 votes from his fellow MPs, two fewer than he did in the ballot the previous day.
The results mean that the membership will now decide between two candidates from the right of the party. Cleverly was seen as the most moderate of the three in the running before today’s vote.
Under the leadership election rules, the initial six candidates who put themselves forward were whittled down to two through a series of ballots of Tory MPs. Conservative Party members will now be balloted on the two remaining candidates between 10-31 October. The winner will then be announced on November 2.
Tom Tugendhat, Priti Patel and Mel Stride were all eliminated in earlier rounds of the contest.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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