Tory leadership campaign: Rishi Sunak consolidates frontrunner status as Tom Tugendhat eliminated

Military veteran Tom Tugendhat, the only remaining candidate not to have served in a ministerial post under Boris Johnson, was knocked out of the contest tonight with the lowest number of votes. He dropped one vote on the previous round of voting to 31.

Mr Sunak, the MP for Richmond and former Chancellor, received the support of 115 MPs, an increase of 14 - and close to the 120 mark that would guarantee a place in the final two of the contest.

Penny Mordaunt received 82 votes - one down on her previous result. Liz Truss gained an additional seven votes to get to 72, while an extra nine votes went to Kemi Badenoch to take her to 58.

The next stage of voting will take place tomorrow, with the result due at 4pm.

It came as the increasingly bitter battle saw Ms Mordaunt’s departmental boss claim she had missed ministerial meetings because she was plotting her leadership bid.

The trade minister’s absence from meetings forced colleagues to pick up the pieces, International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan - who was backing Mr Tugendhat - alleged in a scathing attack on the leadership hopeful.

In a sign of the concern among Tory MPs about the way the leadership race is being conducted, Mr Sunak and Ms Truss confirmed they did not want to take part in a Sky News debate planned to take place on Tuesday – prompting the broadcaster to cancel the show.

“Conservative MPs are said to be concerned about the damage the debates are doing to the image of the Conservative Party, exposing disagreements and splits within the party,” a Sky statement said.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he is “astonished” by candidates withdrawing from the debate, arguing that it demonstrates a lack of “confidence”.

He told reporters in London: “I can see, based on what I’ve seen in the debates so far, why they want to do so because this is a party that is out of ideas, out of purpose, they’re tearing each other apart.”