EPAThe Conservative leadership contest has been whittled down to four candidates after former cabinet minister Mel Stride was knocked out in a vote of Tory MPs.
The former immigration minister Robert Jenrick finished top with 33 votes, with Kemi Badenoch second on 28 votes.
James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat got 21 votes each from Tory MPs, leaving Mel Stride with the fewest votes on 16.
There will be further voting by MPs after the party’s conference next month to select the final two to be put to a vote of Tory members, who get the final say over who will be the new leader.
The winner will replace former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who stood down as party leader after leading the Conservatives to their worst performance at a general election in July.
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel went out in the first round of voting by Tory MPs last week.
In the second round, Jenrick and Badenock slightly increased their vote-shares, while Cleverly stayed on 21 and Tugendhat added four to his tally.
The shadow work and pensions secretary, Stride had a fairly low profile and was loyal ally of Sunak, often seen defending his decisions in TV interviews.
Stride positioned himself as a steady hand who could restore the credibility of the Conservative Party after its historic defeat in the general election.
His leadership platform offered to unite the party behind Conservative values and win back the public’s trust.
The four remaining candidates posted to social media to thank their supporters.
Jenrick told said “we can change our party for the better”, while Badenock said the Conservatives “need a leader who can cut through in opposition, and defeat Labour and Reform”.
Cleverly said “we must unite our party with Conservative values”, and Tugendhat thanked Stride for showing “our party has the economic vision and ideas that we need to win”.
The final four have already made speeches setting out their visions and the next big moment to impress the Tory faithfull will come at the party conference at the end of September.
Each of them will make speeches and give interviews at conference, with the four put through their paces repeatedly in front of party activists.
On the final day of conference, each candidate will give a speech in a repeat of the format that saw David Cameron emerge as the frontrunner to be the next Tory leader in 2005.
It will be a vital opportunity to woo the party’s 121 MPs and convince them they can restore their electoral fortunes from opposition.
An intensive round of hustings and multiple votes will follow the conference from 8 October, lasting three days, until only two candidates are left.
Conservative Party members will then choose which of the final two candidates they want as the new leader, with the result announced on 2 November.
A Labour Party spokesperson said the Tories had put forward “four people who played key roles in 14 years of chaos and decline”.
“Their failure to take responsibility for the mess they made, demonstrates that none of these candidates are cut out for the job,” the spokesperson said.
