FORMER home secretary Priti Patel has been eliminated from the Tory leadership campaign after the first round of voting.
Her defeat leaves bookies’s favourite Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat still in the running.
In a shock development, the former minister received just 14 votes in a poll of Tory MPs, with rival Stride, who has yet to officially launch his campaign, inching ahead on 16.
Hardline right-winger Jenrick came first with the support of 28 MPs, with Badenoch (below) close behind on 22, while Cleverly had 21.
Tugendhat came third last with 17 votes.
Voting continues among MPs until there are only two candidates remaining. Members get the final say.
Defeat will be bruising for Patel, with the former home secretary enjoying the biggest public profile among the contenders.
READ MORE: David Cameron sat on advice showing breach of humanitarian law in Gaza, officials say
Recent research, which also found that voters were beginning to find the Conservatives “weird”, revealed that Patel was the only candidate who could be correctly identified from a photograph by most people.
Badenoch, widely tipped as the bookmakers’ favourite, has sought to position herself as someone who will govern further to the political right, claiming in her Monday launch event that the Tories “talked right but governed left, sounding like Conservatives but acting like Labour”.
She launched her campaign earlier this week by reigniting a row with former Doctor Who actor David Tennant (above), a move for which she was criticised by some Conservatives.
READ MORE: Neil Gray admits he was waiting for Oasis tickets during SNP conference event
Jenrick (below), widely seen as her closest rival for the job, has sought to centre his campaign on immigration, with a promise to introduce a binding cap on the number of legal migrants and to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
Former security minister Tugendhat’s (below) pitch is for a reset with the public, based around restoring honesty to politics, while Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, has said his priorities as prime minister would be to boost national security, reduce migration and restore “confidence in capitalism”.
READ MORE: Shona Robison announces £500 million of Scottish Government cuts
Patel had promised members she would get the Conservative Party back to its “winning ways” and touted her credentials in cabinet and her work on immigration and policing.
Stride has not held a launch event, but has made frequent appearances speaking to broadcasters during the early weeks of the contest.
There will be a second round of voting on Tuesday to axe another candidate before the final quartet is whittled down to two through a vote held between October 9 and 10.
Members' voting closes at 5pm on October 31 and Rishi Sunak's replacement will be announced on November 2.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel