Tory MPs will vote again on Tuesday in the Conservative leadership bid, as the race for second place intensifies after Tom Tugendhat was knocked out.
Rishi Sunak remained the front runner with 115 votes, while Mr Tugendhat received just 31 votes from Conservative MPs in the third ballot.
Penny Mordaunt, who last week created a significant lead over Liz Truss, saw a dip in the vote share as she received 82 votes to foreign secretary’s 71, while Kemi Badenoch was at the bottom of the race with 58 votes.
Mr Tugendhat had not yet said publicly which camp he might throw his support behind, but Ms Mordaunt made an early effort to court his backing – tweeting that she had “admired” him for years.
Meanwhile, Sky News was forced to cancel the third and final televised debate, after frontrunners Mr Sunak and Ms Truss pulled out of the Tuesday evening event amid reports of fears that the previous two debates have inflicted “incredible” damage on the Conservative Party.
