TOM Tugendhat is the latest Tory leadership candidate to crash out of the race to become the next Prime Minister.
MPs cast their votes in the third round of the contest to find a new Conservative leader this evening.
Unlike the previous rounds, there was no threshold to be met – it was simply whoever came in last that was eliminated.
Rishi Sunak was first once again with 115 votes whilst Penny Mordaunt finished second with 82 votes.
The full result was as follows:
- 357 votes cast out of 358
- Kemi Badenoch MP: 58 votes
- Penny Mordaunt: 82 votes
- Rishi Sunak: 115 votes
- Liz Truss: 71 votes
- Tom Tugendhat: 31
What else happens this week?
Those vying to become the next Prime Minister were set for another TV debate tomorrow night but that was cancelled after Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss said they wouldn’t take part.
In a statement, Penny Mordaunt criticised her colleagues for withdrawing.
Two more rounds of voting are set to take place on consecutive days, which will leave just two candidates left.
The final two candidates will be known by Wednesday evening – the day before Parliament breaks up for summer recess.
Over the summer, they will face a vote of around 150 000 Conservative members with the next Prime Minister set to be announced on September 5.
What has Tom Tugendhat said?
The former candidate has said he will listen to what others have to say before deciding who he chooses to suport for the remainder of the election.
In a video posted to Twitter, Mr Tugendhat said: “That is the end of the road for me in this race, but look, it has been an amazing run, I’m incredibly proud of the team, I’m incredibly grateful to all the supporters who have been with me at some – if not all – stages of the race we fought for a clean start because we know that that’s what the country is crying out for.
“We’ve seen that in the response to the two debates, we’ve seen that in the engagement we’ve had from people.
Although it wasn’t to be today, I am immensely proud of the positive vision we put forward for our country. Thank you to all those who supported me and believed in #ACleanStart. This is only the beginning! pic.twitter.com/KgODn9xuNx
— Tom Tugendhat (@TomTugendhat) July 18, 2022
“Now I’m going to be with you, of course, over the next two years, fighting in the council elections and then fighting again in the general election and then long into the future, because we need to make sure that our party, the Conservative Party, is able to deliver a clean start for the country and for ourselves.
“But please, I’m not going to be talking about any candidates at the moment, I’ll listen to what they have to say and I’ll be making my judgment later.”
