The shock result which saw Tory leadership frontrunner James Cleverly crash out of the contest may have been down to attempts to keep Kemi Badenoch off the final shortlist, a senior Conservative is claiming.
Shadow business secretary Kevin Hollinrake stressed that the voting patterns were “quite surprising”.
The final round of voting by MPs on Wednesday saw former Home Secretary Mr Cleverly eliminated from the contest.
Ms Badenoch won 42 votes and Robert Jenrick 41, to Mr Cleverly’s 37, with 120 Tory MPs having taken part.
But the result shocked Westminster as Mr Cleverly had surged to be the frontrunner as he nearly doubled his support to 39 MPs in the previous round, which saw former security minister Tom Tugendhat knocked out.
The latter received 20 votes and the majority of them, or at least a sizeable chunk, might have been expected to go to Mr Cleverly, as Mr Tugendhat was the least Right wing candidate, followed by Mr Cleverly.
But Mr Cleverly actually lost two votes, with Ms Badenoch gaining 12, and Mr Jenrick ten.
The result stunned many Tory MPs when it was announced in the Commons.
“There were gasps in the room,” Mr Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, told Times Radio.
“It was quite surprising the voting patterns on Tuesday as well.
“If there were any odd voting patterns, odd voting behaviour, it might have been because they wanted to keep Kemi out of the final, because she’s very popular with members and I think popular in the country at large, because she’s willing to say what she feels.”
Backing Ms Badenoch, he added: “She’s strong, she’s bold, she’s decisive, and she’s hugely optimistic for the country. So I think that she’s absolutely the right choice as our new leader.”
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, told ITV’s Peston show: “It does seem to me like there were some games being played out, which never work by the way, I have to tell you.
“People who try and second guess what the result will be and try and figure out what it could be, I think you end up in a bit of a mess.”
Ms Badenoch is seen by many MPs as the riskier of the two candidates.
But Sir Iain argued: “We’re not here to pick a ready-made Prime Minister, we’re here for us and her to grow to become much more dominant in the political debate, much more eye-catching, much more to be about people saying you know what? Maybe they are getting it right, maybe their leader seems to be in the right area.”
Allies of Mr Cleverly suggested there was at no point any co-ordinated vote lending from their campaign to other candidates.
Such a move could be used to ensure a more threatening leadership rival were eliminated.
One Tory MP said they were now getting messages from local members saying “what the hell are you doing?” after two candidates from the Right got on to the final ballot.
The MP said: “One of two things has happened. Either a number of people lent James Cleverly their votes yesterday and rolled them back.
“Or James Cleverly’s lent votes to Robert Jenrick and over-egged it.”
But there was also the possibility of individuals backing their second favourite candidate, assuming their preferred choice was already safe.
The first full day of campaigning for the remaining two Conservative leadership candidates has started.
North West Essex MP Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick were stepping up their pitches to Conservative Party members on Thursday, as they go head to head in the contest to succeed Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, with the result due to be announced on November 2.
Newark MP Mr Jenrick’s position in the final two was not so sure going into Wednesday, and he was said to have spent the previous night calling MPs to press for their support after a “moment of real nerves” about his place in the contest.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Jenrick admitted he had been written off and said his plan for a legally binding cap on immigrants in the tens of thousands has Reform leader Nigel Farage “rattled”.
“He knows I am the candidate who will win back those voters we lost to Reform - something our political recovery depends on,” he said, vowing not to “lurch to the Right or to the Left”.
Nick Timothy, Tory MP for West Suffolk said: “My party needs to be unsparing in its analysis of why we lost and what we must do next. Rob has shown his willingness to do that, so he has my full support.”
