Tory leadership race cut to five as Braverman eliminated

Suella Braverman, the attorney-general, has been eliminated from the Conservative party leadership contest, leaving five candidates in the race to be the next UK prime minister.

Braverman, an ardent Brexiter on the right of the party, was knocked out after receiving the support of 27 MPs in the second round of voting on Thursday, five fewer than in Wednesday’s first ballot.

Five candidates remain in the contest: ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak, who received 101 votes, trade minister Penny Mordaunt with 83, foreign secretary Liz Truss on 64, former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch on 49, and foreign affairs select committee chair Tom Tugendhat on 32.

Sunak affirmed his status as the frontrunner, gaining the support of 13 additional MPs since the first voting round. But the former chancellor failed to reach the threshold of 120 backers needed to confirm his place in the final shortlist.

The third round of voting among Conservative MPs will take place on Monday when another candidate will be eliminated. The final shortlist of two challengers will be decided by Thursday.

Once the final shortlist has been selected, the remaining two candidates will be voted on by approximately 100,000 Tory members. The next leader of the Conservative party and prime minister will be announced on September 5.

On Thursday, Mordaunt confirmed her status as one of the candidates with the most momentum, picking up the support of an extra 16 MPs since the first round of voting. Truss only gained 14 MPs.

Tugendhat faces potential elimination in the next round of the contest after losing five votes between the first and second stages of the race. But his campaign team insisted he was “in it to win it”. It added: “He can’t wait to set out his positive vision for Britain and offer the party, and more importantly the country, the clean start we need.”

One Tugendhat ally said they hoped the first televised debates — due to take place on Friday on Channel 4, Sunday on ITV and on Monday on Sky — would raise his profile. “When voters see Tom in the debates, MPs will realise he’s in a strong position,” the MP said.

Braverman’s departure from the contest will start horse-trading to secure her endorsement and the backing of her allies, although few MPs transfer their support in a unified bloc.

Truss, who is vying for the Tory rightwing vote, made an early plea for the attorney-general’s support. Her team said: “Suella Braverman ran a campaign that she can rightly be proud of.”

It added: “As Liz set out in her speech, now is the time for MPs to unite behind the candidate who will cut taxes, deliver the real economic change we need, continue to deliver the benefits of Brexit and ensure Putin loses in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Mordaunt, a favourite of Tory party activists, has faced increasing scrutiny since emerging as the bookmakers’ frontrunner.

Truss said she would be “ready to be prime minister from day one”, in an implied dig at the relatively inexperienced Mordaunt. One ally of Truss said Mordaunt would “need stabilisers”.

Lord David Frost, former Brexit minister, said he had “grave reservations” about Mordaunt, who worked alongside him on EU matters in the Cabinet Office, in a strong attack on her credibility. “I’m sorry to say this, I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary when we were in negotiations,” he told TalkTV.

“She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the EU when that was necessary.” Frost added: “She wasn’t always visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where she was. It became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the prime minister to move her on.”

In response to Frost’s comments, one Mordaunt campaign insider said: “Penny has nothing but respect for Lord Frost. He did a huge amount to assist our negotiations until he resigned from government. Penny will always fight for Brexit and always has.”