DISGRACED former defence secretary Liam Fox and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb are out of the race to replace David Cameron.
In the first round of voting of the Conservative Party’s leadership contest, Fox managed to secure just 16 votes from fellow Tory MPs, which saw him eliminated. Crabb, who won 34 votes, cut his losses and quit before facing the next round of voting tomorrow.
As expected Theresa May was far ahead, winning the support of 165 Tory MPs, slightly more than 50 per cent of the parliamentary party. Andrea Leadsom was in second place on 66, and Michael Gove had 48.
When Tory MPs vote for the second time the candidate with the fewest votes will again be knocked out of the contest. Initially they expected to vote again next week. But Crabb’s decision to withdraw reduces the field of candidates.
However, as Crabb walked away he urged the remaining candidates to follow his lead and clear the way for May to become the uncontested leader. If Leadsom and Gove do not challenge May, then she would become leader and Prime Minister without party members having to be consulted.
“Let’s not underestimate the seriousness of the challenge. We have a deeply divided party. We have a deeply divided country. And that’s why I think we need to recognise there’s only one candidate in this race who has got any hope of bringing together our party, and providing a strong government to unite our country, and that is Theresa May,” Crabb said.
It seems unlikely she will be unopposed though.
Leadsom’s supporters believe she can win, and have suggested May, a reluctant Remain campaigner, fears having to face their candidate in a popularity contest with the Eurosceptic membership. Though both Leadsom and Gove campaigned for Brexit, the theory is that she is far more palatable to the members, who resent his betrayal of friend Boris Johnson. It would, in effect, be an easier race for May against Gove.
There is also a genuine fear among some Tory MPs that a Leadsom win would be a form of Ukip entryism.
Arron Banks, the millionaire donor who funded both Ukip and Leave. EU, has thrown his support behind Leadsom. She has also refused to rule out a partnership with Ukip, or the possibility of giving Nigel Farage a position in the cabinet.
After the result May released a statement asking colleagues to get behind her campaign.
“I am pleased with this result, and very grateful to my colleagues for their support today. There is a big job before us: to unite our party and the country, to negotiate the best possible deal as we leave the EU, and to make Britain work for everyone.
“I am the only candidate capable of delivering these three things as prime minister, and tonight it is clear that I am also the only one capable of drawing support from the whole of the Conservative party.
“I look forward to continuing the debate about Britain’s future – in parliament and across the country.”
Yesterday’s result does, however, mean that all that’s stopping Britain having its second female prime minister is Michael Gove.
Fox’s humiliating defeat will end his attempt at rehabilitation. He was forced to resign from government in 2011 after he allowed close friend and best man Adam Werrity to take up an unofficial, secret role in which he attended meetings at the Ministry of Defence, had access to the ministerial diary and met foreign dignitaries. Werrity, who lived rent-free with the politician, printed official looking business cards announcing himself as Fox’s advisor, all without any form of security clearance.
An investigation by then cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell concluded: “The disclosure outside the MoD of details about future visits overseas posed a degree of security risk not only to Dr Fox, but also to the accompanying official party.”
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