S
uella Braverman has crashed out of the Conservative leadership race as her vote dropped to 27 in the second ballot of Tory MPs.
It leaves five candidates in the contest to replace Boris Johnson: Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt, Tom Tugendhat, and Kemi Badenoch.
Mr Tugendhat also saw his vote drop but he managed to scrape through to the next stage.
Ms Badenoch got 49 votes, Ms Mordaunt 83, Mr Sunak 101, Ms Truss 64 and Mr Tugendhat 32.
Earlier Ms Truss, speaking in central London, used her campaign launch to stress her credentials to become prime minister, pledging that she would be ready from “day one”.
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Nadhim Zahawi and Jeremy Hunt were eliminated from the contest on Wednesday night, with Mr Hunt throwing his support behind Rishi Sunak.
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1657807690Suella Braverman eliminated from leadership contest
Suella Braverman has been eliminated from the Tory leadership race following the results of the second ballot.
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James Heappey backs Liz Truss
The minister for the Armed Forces has announced that he will be supporting Liz Truss to become the next Prime Minister.
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Truss claim about 1980s education in Leeds ‘shameful’, say city leaders
Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss’s comments that children she went to school with were let down by low expectations and poor educational standards have been branded “shameful” by political leaders in the city where she was educated.
The Foreign Secretary made the references to her comprehensive state schooling in Leeds as she launched her leadership campaign on Thursday.
Ms Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, said: “I didn’t come from a traditional conservative background. I grew up in Paisley, and I went to a comprehensive school in Leeds.
“Many of the children I was at school with were let down by low expectations, poor educational standards and a lack of opportunity. Too much talent went to waste.”
Ms Truss went to Roundhay School in the 1980s and 1990s – a school which has been rated as outstanding by Ofsted since 2013.
Labour councillor and Leeds City Council leader James Lewis said on Twitter: “Like Liz Truss, I went to Leeds Council schools in the Thatcher and Major years and the truth is it was Conservative government underfunding of schools for 18 years that really let kids down.”
And Fabian Hamilton, the Labour MP representing Leeds North East, said: “Once again, Liz Truss has shown she knows little about North East Leeds.
“First, she wrongly suggested that Roundhay was a red wall seat and now she has criticised our hard-working teachers and school staff in Leeds.
“Roundhay School has been an excellent educational institution for decades and its staff and students are real assets to our community. It’s shameful that Liz Truss has decided to attack them today.”
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Voting closes in Tory leadership second ballot
Voting has now closed in the second ballot of the Tory leadership contest.
The result is expected to be announced at 3pm. All candidates will need at least 30 endorsements to continue onto the ballot.
If all six candidates – Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat, and Suella Braverman – get more than 30 votes, then the candidate with the lowest number of endorsements will be eliminated.
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Tugendhat campaign claims they have enough votes to stay in contest
A source in Tom Tugendhat’s campaign said they believed he had enough votes to stay in the contest as voting closes.
The source was confident there was enough support to get a “one nation” Tory voice through to the next round and the TV debates.
Mr Tugendhat expects to pick up some votes that had gone to Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi in the previous round, the source added.
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Penny Mordaunt allies comment on Lord Frost criticism
Allies of Penny Mordaunt said she had “nothing but respect” for Lord Frost despite his scathing attack on her.
A source in the Penny Mordaunt campaign said: “Penny has nothing but respect for Lord Frost.
“He did a huge amount to assist our negotiations until he resigned from Government.
“Penny will always fight for Brexit and always has.”
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MPs urge Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch to abandon leadership bids
Allies of Liz Truss have urged Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch to abandon their leadership bids to help boost support for the Foreign Secretary.
A senior Truss supporter said there was a need to “unite the right”.
Backers of Ms Braverman and Ms Badenoch should “recognise the reality of the situation”, a source told the Press Association.
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Rishi was right to resign, says MP
Richard Holden, a supporter of Rishi Sunak, has said the Chancellor did the right thing to resign and did it honourably.
He told Sky News: “He was very honourable about it because he stabbed him in the front.
“I’ve been loyal to the prime minister all the way through, and I think Rishi Sunak has done everything he possibly can to do that as well.
“I think in the end, though, he’s made an honourable move and I back him now.”
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Grant Shapps: Rishi Sunak can win the next election
Former leadership contender, Grant Shapps, has pledged his support for Rishi Sunak, claiming that he has the “experience to rise to the huge challenges” the UK faces.
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Three more MPs back Truss after campaign launch
Three more MPs have endorsed Liz Truss after her campaign launch.
James Heappey, a defence minister, Tom Pursglove, a Home Office minister, and Edward Argar, a former health minister, are now publicly backing Truss.
Mr Heappey told Sky News: “We’ve seen what it takes to deliver and we know Liz can take those decisions”.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/tory-leadership-race-2022-latest-news-penny-mordaunt-liz-truss-rishi-sunak-votes-when-b1012256.html
