And then there were four: The surviving Tory leadership hopefuls
Four finalists in the Tory leadership contest will be taking their arguments to the party conference in Birmingham later this month, following the second round of voting by MPs on Tuesday.
They now have around a month before the field is whittled down to the final two, with back-to-back MP votes to be held on October 9 and 10.
With only four weeks remaining until the next elimination, the candidates must now battle to convey to their colleagues who they are and what they stand for.
Robert Jenrick
33 votes in latest round
The surprise frontrunner in the first two rounds of voting in the contest, Jenrick has drawn up the most right-wing prospectus for his party. He is the only candidate calling outright for Britain to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and one of two contenders who has put a target ceiling on net inward legal migration to the UK.
A former immigration minister who dramatically quit Rishi Sunak’s front bench after declaring that the government’s emergency Rwanda legislation did not go far enough, he has put the issue of migration at the heart of his campaign. “Change, win, deliver,” is his slogan.
The son of a secretary and Midlands small businessman, Jenrick, 42, worked in commercial roles at Christie’s auction house before winning his Commons seat of Newark in a 2014 by-election.
His first ministerial role was under Theresa May in the Treasury, while Boris Johnson made him housing secretary and Liz Truss appointed him health minister.
Nicknamed “Bobby J” by his supporters, he has won endorsements from Sir John Hayes, leader of the “common sense group” of Tory rightwingers, and Mark Francois, chair of the European Research Group of staunch Conservative Brexiters.
Kemi Badenoch
28 votes in latest round
The bookmakers’ favourite going into the race, the former business secretary has built momentum with a raft of shadow cabinet endorsements.
Standing under the banner “Renewal 2030”, she has pledged to unite the Conservatives, reinvigorate the argument for capitalism, and placed heavy emphasis on the importance of the family unit in society.
A darling of the right — not least for her attitude to trans rights, including her support for stronger protections for women-only spaces for biological females while equalities minister — she has tacked towards the centre in this contest to broaden her appeal among MPs and party members.
Known for being outspoken, critics complain she is argumentative and falls out with colleagues, but she insists she is combative “on behalf of my party, not with my party”.
Previously a London Assembly member and digital director of the Spectator magazine, Badenoch, 44, entered parliament as an Essex MP in 2017.
She ran for leader after Johnson resigned in 2022 and came fourth, a result considered a success given her low profile going into that race.
Shadow ministers Claire Coutinho, Andrew Griffith, Laura Trott and Helen Whately are among her MP backers.
James Cleverly
21 votes in latest round
The former reservist army officer boasts the most senior experience in government — having served in two of the great offices of state as foreign secretary and then home secretary. He was also previously Tory party chair.
He has vowed to reintroduce the controversial Rwanda deportation policy — which he marshalled into law while home secretary before it was axed by the Labour government.
His other priorities are summed up by his campaign slogan advocating “lower taxes, [a] smaller state, higher military spending, a free and safe society”.
Another Essex MP, he arrived in the Commons in 2015 and his first front bench roles were as Brexit minister then foreign minister, before joining the cabinet.
Prior to his career in politics, he ran a small business that eventually went under. He became a staunch ally of Johnson, with whom he first served in City Hall, but his government career outlived Johnson’s exit from No 10.
Friends say his affable personality makes Cleverly, 55, well-placed to unite the party following its worst-ever defeat. He is viewed as one of the centrist Tory candidates in the contest.
He has been backed by leading One Nation ex-minister Simon Hoare and several newly elected Tory MPs. He is the only one of the four contenders not to pick up additional support between the first and second round of votes in the contest, however, sparking claims his campaign is flatlining.
Tom Tugendhat
21 votes in latest round
With less than two years of ministerial experience under his belt, Tugendhat has heavily promoted his military career as evidence of his record of service and leadership.
Widely regarded as a Tory moderate, he has tacked rightward in the contest, calling for reform and potential derogation from aspects of the ECHR, and to cap net inward migration at 100,000 people per year.
Campaigning to “serve the country, lead with conviction, act decisively”, he has pledged to increase defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP — above the current target of 2.5 per cent.
Tugendhat, 51, grew his profile in the Commons as chair of the foreign affairs committee, before being appointed security minister by Truss. A foreign policy hawk, he is proud to have been personally sanctioned by China, Russia and Iran.
He began his career in journalism, then the Foreign Office, before serving in the British Army on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was first elected as MP for Tonbridge in 2015.
He has clinched endorsements from former culture secretary Dame Karen Bradley and influential new MP Nick Timothy, who was May’s chief of staff in No 10.