Surprise result in Tory leadership contest as another MP knocked out

JAMES Cleverly has overtaken previous favourite Robert Jenrick in the Conservative leadership contest with Tom Tugendhat the latest candidate to fall out of the race.

Cleverly received 39 votes from Tory MPs in the latest round of voting in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as leader, overtaking Robert Jenrick to top the ballot. 

Jenrick drew 31 votes, Kemi Badenoch came in third with 30 votes and Tugendhat was knocked out of the contest with 20 votes out of a total of 120 votes cast.

Previously, former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride was knocked out of the race.

Tory MPs will now vote tomorrow to narrow the three remaining candidates down to two.

Tory members will then have a few weeks to have their say through an online ballot, with a new leader announced on November 2. 

The winner will take helm of the party as it works in opposition for the first time since 2010.

In a tweet, shadow security minister Tugendhat thanked those who had backed his campaign, adding: "Your energy, your ideas and your support have shown a vision of what our party could become.

"Our campaign has ended but our commitment to our country continues."

(Image: Lucy North/PA Wire) Last week, Cleverly (above) sparked a cross-Border rift in his party after showing a “fundamental misunderstanding” of how the party “works in Scotland”.

The former home secretary fired shots at Tory top dogs when he told Conservative members in Kensington last month that the party got “totally outclassed in the digital realm by Reform” adding that “Scottish Labour is a tighter organisation than Scottish Conservatives", according to The Spectator.

Since he made the comments, a senior Scottish Conservative source has told The Times the remarks “undermine the significant achievements of the Scottish Conservative Campaign Organisation”.

Badenoch has attracted headlines in recent weeks with comments around maternity pay being "excessive", while she also suggested she would make major changes to the devolution settlement should she win the role and one day become prime minister.

Jenrick attracted scrutiny when he claimed UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing terrorists".

He defended the claim as “absolutely correct” despite criticism from his rivals.