JAMES CLEVERLY has crashed out of the Tory leadership contest – pitting Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick in a battle for the crown.
A shock final vote of Conservative MPs saw Mr Cleverly plummet from the top spot to last place in the space of 24 hours.
AlamyJames Cleverly crashed out in final Tory MPs leadership ballot[/caption]
GettyKemi Badenoch went into the final round as the grassroots favourite[/caption]
ReutersRobert Jenrick is the former immigration minister[/caption]
The Shadow Home Secretary – viewed as the centrist candidate – dropped from 39 votes to 37.
Ms Badenoch shot from 30 to 42, with Mr Jenrick just behind on 41 having gone up from 31.
It means the right-wingers will face off in a final ballot of around 150,000 Tory members.
The bitter rivals will slug it out for almost a month before a winner is declared on November 2.
Grassroots favourite Ms Badenoch is now the bookies’ favourite, with Coral putting her odds-on at 4-7.
The Shadow Communities Secretary went into the final 24 hours of campaigning insisting the members’ deserve that chance to vote for her.
Tory former minister Nigel Huddleston said: “The membership absolutely wanted Kemi in the final two. That was a really clear message we’ve had from day one here.
“And that does factor into these considerations, because a lot of us have been talking to our members.
“Many of them are still angry that we didn’t put Penny in the final a few years ago, and they’ve been reminding us of that over the last few weeks.”
Mr Cleverly had been the favourite after a dominating performance at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham last week.
He shocked onlookers yesterday after leapfrogging Mr Jenrick into first place.
Today’s results sparked speculation either of vote-lending that had backfired, or of wider skulduggery in yesterday’s ballot that inflated his vote.
Gasps went up in the 1922 committee room when chairman Bob Blackman read out the result.
After being eliminated, Mr Cleverly said: “I’m grateful for the support I’ve received on this campaign from colleagues, party members and the public. Sadly it wasn’t to be.
“We are all Conservatives, and it’s important the Conservative Party unites to take on this catastrophic Labour government.”
After yesterday’s ballot – which knocked out Tom Tugendhat – Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch were virtually neck and neck, on 31 and 30 votes respectively.
It sparked a last-gasp push for supporters, with both claiming to be the best standard-bearer of the Tory right against Mr Cleverly.
Tory leadership results – fourth round
THE fourth round results:
Kemi Badenoch: 42
Robert Jenrick: 41
James Cleverly: 37
How the contest works:
September 4: First round of Tory MP voting to eliminate one candidate
September 10: Second round of Tory MP voting to eliminate one candidate
September 29 – October 2: Final four candidates make their pitches at Conservative party conference in Birmingham
October 8: Third round of Tory MP voting to eliminate one candidate
October 9: Fourth round of Tory MP voting to eliminate one candidate. The final two go to a vote of the wider party membership.
November 2: New Tory leader announced
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