Video: Gove would wage war on three countries at once - what Ken Clarke privately thinks of today's top Tories

Former Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox was the first candidate to crash out of the Conservative Party leadership race after MPs carried out the first round of voting on Tuesday.

With just 16 votes he trailed behind Stephen Crabb, who received 34 votes, Michael Gove with 48 votes, Andrea Leadsom on 66 votes and front runner Theresa May, with 165 votes,

However, Mrs May faced criticism over her refusal to give firm assurances that European Union nationals would be allowed to remain in the UK and was accused by former Cabinet colleague Ken Clarke of having little knowledge of foreign policy.

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In unguarded comments caught on camera by Sky News, Mr Clarke discussed the leadership candidates - Mrs May, Andrea Leadsom, Michael Gove, Stephen Crabb and Liam Fox - with fellow Tory veteran Sir Malcolm Rifkind.

Mr Clarke said: “Theresa is a bloody difficult woman but you and I worked with Margaret Thatcher.”

The former Cabinet minister, who clashed with Mrs May while he was in office, said he got on all right with her “and she is good”.

But he added that she had been at the Home Office “far too long” and “doesn’t know much about foreign affairs”.

Mrs May’s closest rival appears to be Mrs Leadsom, who has won the support of around 40 MPs including fellow Brexit-backer Boris Johnson.

But Mr Clarke said: “I don’t think either Andrea Leadsom or Boris Johnson actually are in favour of leaving the European Union.”

The two Tory veterans were scathing about Mr Gove, with Sir Malcolm saying “I don’t mind who wins as long as Gove comes third”, while Mr Clarke warned if the hawkish Justice Secretary was in Number 10 “we’d go to war with at least three countries at once”.

Mr Johnson said he was backing Mrs Leadsom for the top job because she was the best all-rounder.

“I think she can articulate what’s needed at the moment, which is a bit of an antidote to some of the gloom, and negativity, and misunderstanding about what the Brexit vote means. Because some people think that it’s the end of the world. It’s not. On the contrary, it’s a massive opportunity for this country,” he told Sky.

The Home Secretary, who has the public support of more than 130 Tory MPs, has come under fire over her stance on EU migrants in the UK.

Mrs May, who backed the Leave camp, has argued that the Government could not afford to “give away” its negotiating position when it came to the status of British expats in the EU.

But Mr Crabb said EU nationals living in the UK must not be forced into a post-Brexit “Checkpoint Charlie” situation.

He insisted that EU nationals should be given guarantees now rather than waiting for Brexit negotiations involving the status of the 1.2 million Britons living in other EU countries.

“The idea that we will be at some kind of Checkpoint Charlie scenario where we are arguing over trading people living in each other’s countries - that is not going to happen.

“There is a danger here that we slip into a mindset of regarding the people who lead countries across the English Channel in Europe as our enemies - they are not,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Outgoing Ukip leader Nigel Farage criticised Mrs May’s stance on EU nationals in Britain, telling LBC: “I am disgusted at the way May has been speaking. The EU nationals living in the UK came here legally and they have protected rights.”

Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz wrote to Mrs May and David Cameron setting out his concerns about the Home Secretary’s stance.

He said: “We believe European Union citizens who have acquired the right to live and work in the UK should not be used as a negotiating tool in any discussions between the Government and the EU over the terms of our exit.

“Fears over repatriation of these settled citizens is causing uncertainty and worry across the country, particularly following a number of racially motivated incidents which Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe has confirmed to have risen after the referendum.”

In committee corridor in the Palace of Westminster the leadership candidates posed for photographs at the entrance to the room where the first votes in the contest to choose the next prime minister were cast.

The candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated, with further rounds of voting on Thursday and next Tuesday until a final pair are left standing.

The choice between the two remaining candidates will be made by Tory members, with around 150,000 of them expected to decide on the identity of the new leader - who will also take the keys to Number 10 - ahead of a declaration on September 9.

Asked how he voted, Mr Gove joked: “It was a tough choice. I voted for a Scotsman.”

Both Mr Gove and Dr Fox are Scottish, while Mr Crabb was also born in Scotland.

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