THE Tory leadership race blew wide open yesterday as underdog James Cleverly stormed into the lead.
His victory in the third round of voting left the two former frontrunners, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, scrambling to secure support from the right of the party.
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Campaign teams were hitting the phones and meeting colleagues in a bid to hoover up rival Tom Tugendhat’s 20 supporters after he crashed out of the contest.
Mr Cleverly, the Shadow Home Secretary, saw support surge by a staggering 18 votes to 39 after an upbeat speech at last week’s party conference.
Tory members’ favourite Ms Badenoch saw her backing increase by two to 30, despite a series of gaffes at conference on maternity pay and the national minimum wage.
But Mr Jenrick, who has topped both previous rounds, saw his support fall by two votes to 31.
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Mr Cleverly said: “The job’s not finished.
“I’m excited to keep spreading our positive Conservative message.”
A vote to whittle the three names down to two will take place today.
The party membership will then pick a winner, who will be announced on November 2.
Tory leadership results – third round
THE third round results:
Robert Jenrick: 31
James Cleverly: 39
Kemi Badenoch: 30
Tom Tugendhat: 20 Eliminated
How the contest works:
September 4: First round of Tory MP voting to eliminate one candidate
September 10: Second round of Tory MP voting to eliminate one candidate
September 29 – October 2: Final four candidates make their pitches at Conservative party conference in Birmingham
October 8: Third round of Tory MP voting to eliminate one candidate
October 9: Fourth round of Tory MP voting to eliminate one candidate. The final two go to a vote of the wider party membership
November 2: New Tory leader announced
