James Cleverly was eliminated from the Tory leadership race on Tuesday in a shock result.
Kemi Badenoch came top after winning support from 42 Conservative MPs, while ex immigration minister Robert Jenrick got 41 votes and shadow home secretary Mr Cleverly trailed behind on 37.
Mr Cleverly had been favourite to take over as Conservative Party leader on Tuesday after topping the third ballot of Tory MPs when shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat was knocked out of the race.
Some 20 Conservative MPs had backed Mr Tudendhat, leaving those votes up for grabs in the last parliamentary poll.
But Mr Cleverly lost two backers, having received 39 votes on Tuesday when Mr Jenrick was second with 31 votes, followed by shadow housing secretary Kemi Badenoch with 30.
The result sparked rumours that candidates on the right of the party had “lent” Mr Cleverly votes in earlier ballots, or that his campaign had overestimated its support.
His allies suggested there was at no point any co-ordinated vote lending from their campaign to other candidates.
Commenting on his shock elimination, Mr Cleverly said: “I’m grateful for the support I’ve received on this campaign from colleagues, party members and the public.
“Sadly it wasn’t to be. We are all Conservatives, and it’s important the Conservative Party unites to take on this catastrophic Labour government.”
The final round of the contest will now see Conservative Party members across the UK vote to select the successor to Rishi Sunak.
The result will be announced on November 2.
Mr Cleverly was seen as having impressed his colleagues during a strong performance at the party conference in Birmingham.
He had surged ahead to become the bookmakers’ favourite after urging party members to be “more normal” and “sell Conservatism with a smile” during a speech at the event last week.
Ms Badenoch made headlines at the conference for suggesting that between five and ten per cent of civil servants should be arrested for being terrible at their jobs and describing maternity pay as “excessive”.
One senior Tory MP told the Standard that Ms Badenoch could be an exciting leader, but some were concerned about her imploding. “We know she’s Mrs T,” they said. “We just haven’t worked out if that’s Thatcher or Truss.”
Mr Jenrick has put migration, the economy, and policing central to his campaign message and has called for the UK to leave the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Labour Party chairwoman Ellie Reeves MP said: "After months of gaffes, wild unfunded policies and infighting, Tory members now have the unenviable task of choosing between two of the architects of Tory failure.
"Both Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are central figures in 14 years of hapless leadership and decline, and have already proven they've learned nothing from the mistakes that took the Conservative Party to its worst defeat in modern history.
"While the endless bickering continues, Labour is fixing the foundations and sorting out the mess that these two deeply unimpressive figures left behind."
