Just five Tory MPs remain in the race to become the UK's next Prime Minister. Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt have maintained their places at the front of the Tory leadership race as Suella Braverman became the latest candidate to be eliminated.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss came in third but will hope to pick up votes from Ms Braverman’s supporters in the next round. Mr Sunak picked up 101 votes, Ms Mordaunt 83, Ms Truss 64, Kemi Badenoch 49 and Tom Tugendhat 32.
Ms Braverman had 27 votes, five fewer than she had in Wednesday’s first round of the contest despite the field being smaller on Thursday. Ms Mordaunt gained the most votes, putting on 16 from Wednesday’s total.
Mr Sunak put on an extra 13 votes and is closing in on the 120 votes required to guarantee a place in the final two, who will face a vote of the Tory membership to decide the next party leader and Prime Minister.
Three major televised debates are taking place as the leadership contest continues. Channel 4 said all five candidates have confirmed they will take part in its debate on Friday night (July 15), with further televised clashes scheduled for Sunday and Monday.
The next round of voting is due on Monday, with subsequent rounds if required until two candidates are left, who will then battle it out over the summer to win the support of Conservative members. Their choice of the next prime minister will be announced on September 5.
Boris Johnson will then formally tender his resignation to the Queen to make way for his successor the following day. But until then, where and when can you catch the leadership debates?
When and where to watch the debates
Chanel 4
Presented by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the first of three televised debates will be held on Channel 4. Britain’s Next PM: The Conservative Leadership Debate will air on Friday 15th July 2022 from 7pm to 9.30pm.
You can watch it live on Channel 4 or on demand on All4.
ITV
The second debate will air on ITV on Sunday 17 July 2022. You can watch it live from 7pm or on catch up on ITV Hub. In 2019, ITV's Conservative leadership debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt was watched by 4.4 million viewers.
Sky
The third of the run of Conservative leadership debates will air on Sky News on Monday 18 July. It will be hosted by Kay Burley with questions from a live virtual audience.
The debate will be broadcast across Sky’s digital channels and will also be streamed on YouTube.
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