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Brexit live: Tory party leadership first-round result expected soon
Brexit live: Theresa May wins first round of Tory party leadership election
(35 minutes later)
6.13pm BST
6.49pm BST
18:13
18:49
Confirmed. David Cameron did *not* vote in the ballot to choose his successor
This is from Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt.
6.12pm BST
After @andrealeadsom 2nd place @PennyMordauntMP tells me: the momentum is with Andrea, a contest between her and @TheresaMay2016 exciting
18:12
Team @andrealeadsom thought they had 65 votes in the bag. Went one better to 66
Nick Boles, who is campaigning for Gove, cast Sir Nicholas Soames' proxy vote for May, came out to prove it
6.47pm BST
6.10pm BST
18:47
18:10
May say she is the only person who can unite the party
There are 330 Tory MPs.
Here is Theresa May’s statement on the result.
If the Sky tally (see 6.01pm) is right, there are 108 MPs who have not declared. So that means the actual figures will be quite different.
I am pleased with this result, and very grateful to my colleagues for their support today.
6.10pm BST
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.
18:10
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.
Rajeev Syal
I look forward to continuing the debate about Britain’s future - in parliament and across the country.
Sources close to Tom Watson said the Labour deputy leader’s talks with Len McCluskey are over for today.But Watson has agreed to clear his diary for the rest of the week in order to meet with other union general secretaries to continue discussions about a “negotiated settlement” over Labour’s “impasse”.
6.46pm BST
6.01pm BST
18:46
18:01
Tory election results - 4 things we've learnt
Here is a Sky News tally of how many Tory MPs have declared for each candidate from earlier today.
1) Theresa May’s lead is so big as to raise questions about how viable it would be to elect anyone else as leader. She has won the backing of 50% of Tory MPs, and is bound to pick up more support as the voting goes on. (For example, we heard Ken Clarke say today that he would vote for Stephen Crabb before switching to May.)
And here is a Guido Fawkes tally.
2) Stephen Crabb may come under pressure to drop out. He got twice as many votes as Liam Fox, but it is hard to see any of the Fox votes going to him and so there is a chance that, if he stays in the ballot, he could see his vote share fall on Thursday - which would be embarrasing.
#ToryLeadership DeclarationsTheresa May - 110Andrea Leadsom - 40Michael Gove - 25Stephen Crabb - 22Liam Fox - 8Undeclared - 125
3) Michael Gove seems to have little chance of catching Andrea Leadsom. Like Liam Fox he is a hawkish leaver, but even if all the Fox votes were to go to him (quite a big if) he would still not have as many votes as Andrea Leadsom. He has indicated that he won’t drop out, but it is not as if he has not U-turned already quite dramatically in this contest.
5.57pm BST
4) It is almost inevitable that the contest will end up with the party members having to decide between May and Leadsom. Leadsom’s performance was better than many people expected, and it will probably quash any speculation about whether she should stand aside to allow May to become prime minister without a membership ballot.
17:57
6.31pm BST
In the past the results of ballots of Tory MPs have been announced off camera. But tonight a film crew is being admitted into the committee room where the count is taking place to record Graham Brady announcing the result.
18:31
5.55pm BST
May wins easily with backing of 50% of Tory MPs - and Fox drops out
17:55
Here are the results. Theresa May has won the backing of 50% of Tory MPs.
Tory leadership result announced shortly
Liam Fox drops out.
The Conservative leadership ballot closes at 6pm.
Theresa May - 165
The votes will be counted immediately, and Graham Brady, chair of the backbench 1922 committee, is expected to announce the results at about 6.30pm.
Andrea Leadsom - 66
The candidate who comes last drops out, and the others can all go into the next ballot, on Thursday. But it is possible that other candidates could drop out too.
Michael Gove - 48
5.52pm BST
Stephen Crabb - 34
17:52
Liam Fox - 16
A second Andrea Leadsom reading list
Earlier I posted an Andrea Leadsom reading list (see 1.56pm) reflecting the fact that she is probably the Conservative leadership candidate about whom least is known. Here is a second one with some more material about her. My colleagues Peter Walker and Jessica Elgot have contributed.
The other danger of a Leadsom leadership is UK Independence party entryism. Arron Banks, the millionaire donor who funded both Ukip and Leave. EU, is backing Ms Leadsom’s campaign. At the hustings, she would not rule out a partnership with Ukip and during a television interview, declined to say she would not give Nigel Farage a job.
Mr Banks has spoken about his desire to create a “rightwing Momentum”, a Brexit pressure group modelled on Mr Corbyn’s grass roots support base. A Tory party led by Ms Leadsom would provide the perfect opportunity for hard-right Brexit supporters to infiltrate the Conservatives (this cannot happen in time for the current leadership contest, however: the rules dictate you have to be a Tory member for three months to be eligible to vote).
5.22pm BST
17:22
Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson have held separate talks with the leader of the country’s biggest union in an attempt to resolve the crisis at the top of the Labour party, the Press Association reports.
Deputy leader Mr Watson was holding a series of talks with union chiefs in an attempt to end the impasse over Corbyn’s position.
Both Watson and Corbyn discussed the situation with Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, who has called for the unions to broker a peace deal in the deeply divided Labour party.
The position of the unions could prove crucial in determining the future of the party, and Watson told MPs that talks with them would be the “last throw of the dice” in efforts to persuade embattled leaderCorbyn to stand down.
A source close to Watson said there were “lengthy talks” between the deputy leader and McCluskey with the prospect of further discussions later, but they were “still exploring the lie of the land”.
And here is Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh on the situation.
Len McCluskey met Jeremy Corbyn, after meeting Tom Watson.JC + TM didn't meet. Labour leadership turning into Relate counselling session
5.15pm BST
17:15
A German political party is attempting to woo British start-ups to Berlin following the UK’s vote to leave the EU, the Press Association reports.
The Free Democratic Party (FDP) hired an ad-van emblazoned with a billboard aimed at enticing companies to move to the German capital in the wake of the referendum result.
The Berlin branch of the FDP, a junior coalition party to Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats between 2009 and 2013, drove the van across London on Tuesday ahead of a key regional election in September.
The billboard reads: “Dear start-ups, Keep calm and move to Berlin” and has been pictured across central London on social media.
5.13pm BST
17:13
Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, told the European parliament today that national governments should stop criticising the EU because negative comments about it contributed to Britain voting to leave. He told the MEPs:
In the current situation, attacks on the EU institutions, including the commission and the parliament, can only deepen the confusion.
The national capitals must undertake an effort to stop accusing the EU and its institutions of weaknesses and failures. The referendum in the UK was lost also because the political elites have for years been building a negative and often unfair vision of the EU.
Here is a full text of his remarks.
Updated
Updated
at 5.24pm BST
at 6.31pm BST
5.04pm BST
6.28pm BST
17:04
18:28
There is some evidence that EU nationals due to come to the UK to work for the NHS are having second thoughts since the Brexit vote, the Press Association reports.
Expect an announcement in c10 mins. This is only to eliminate one contender today, almost certainly Fox, but others may withdraw if do badly
Professor Jane Dacre, president of the Royal College of Physicians, has said that there is “anecdotal evidence” that the NHS is struggling to recruit European staff following the referendum.
6.28pm BST
She said: “There is a lot of chatter about around EU doctors who feel uncomfortable continuing to be here and are not applying for posts in the UK.”
18:28
Saffron Cordery, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said: “We have heard of emails from our member organisations asking us if any other trusts have been in the situation of having people they had specifically recruited now deciding not to come.”
So @TheresaMay2016 poised to get the highest first ballot total of Tory MPs since Major in '95 - really Major 1990 pic.twitter.com/u9TH6NR9Rg
5.00pm BST
6.27pm BST
17:00
18:27
Late voter spotted leaving the Committee corridor - the Chancellor - remaining tight lipped on who he has voted for, praising all candidates
Only two cabinet ministers here so far for #ToryLeadership announcement (Rudd, Morgan). How many of these backbenchers will enter cabinet?
4.59pm BST
6.27pm BST
16:59
18:27
The Conservatives, Labour and Ukip are not the only parties in the midst of leadership contests or crises. The Green party is looking for a new leader too, and today they have announced the six candidates (two of whom are proposing a job share).
None of the candidates in Ctte Rm 6 for Graham Brady announcement of 1st round Tory leadership ballot result but plenty of their supporters.
4.51pm BST
6.27pm BST
16:51
18:27
Robert Booth
Tory leadership campaign teams have been called in to hear the result of the first ballot. Tory MPs waiting outside
Keen-eyed observers of this morning’s papers could not fail to miss the distinctive man in the triple-tweed ensemble behind Nigel Farage as he left his resignation press conference. The man with the short back and sides is Gawain Towler, his loyal press secretary of 12 years.
6.25pm BST
Towler, 48, a former Brussels correspondent for Private Eye, is now looking for a new position. He has a reasonable claim to be one of the most experienced crisis PR operators in Westminster.
18:25
Among journalists Towler has a reputation as accessible and friendly, and was often found smoking cigarettes and drinking pints of bitter, like his boss, outside Westminster pubs.
Here is the ConservativeHome tally of how many MPs have declared publicly for each candidate.
As Farage’s flak catcher he had to deal with the outcry after a Ukip councillor said in 2014 that serious floods in the UK were the direct result of the legalisation of gay marriage; Godfrey Bloom calling recipients of UK aid budgets “Bongo-Bongo land” in 2013 and Farage last month launching his “breaking point” referendum poster showing refugees from the Syrian war queuing at the Slovenian border rather than EU migrants, which drew accusations of racist propaganda.
Our updated tally of Leadership Race endorsements: May 140Leadsom 42Gove 27Crabb 22 Fox 7 https://t.co/mCYnELu8kL
The son of a military family who grew up in Dorset, Towler chaired the student Conservatives at York University and worked in parliament for Nirj Deva, a Conservative MP until 1992 before running as a member of the Scottish parliament against George Galloway in 2001. He joined Ukip in Brussels as press spokesman for Farage’s group in the European parliament.
6.24pm BST
Updated
18:24
at 4.55pm BST
Nicky Morgan has arrived for Michael Gove. IDS and @PennyMordauntMP are here for team Leadsom. #yplive
4.50pm BST
16:50
Theresa May has told the Evening Standard in an interview that she would expect EU leaders to engage in informal talks about Brexit before the UK triggers the formal withdrawal process. The most senior EU leaders have rejected this idea. But May told the Standard:
In the European negotiations I have been involved in, you often have preliminary talks before you actually reach the formal position. This will be a point of discussion ...
I would hope that we would see that everybody recognises it is not just for the UK’s benefit but actually for the benefit of the EU that we have sensible discussions that are undertaken in a good spirit of willingness to get a deal that is right for us but also a sensible deal for the EU.
4.40pm BST
16:40
The Labour MP Ian Austin is rather envious of the efficiency with which the Conservative party is getting round to selecting a new leader.
Tory MPs just started voting. for their new leader. Could all be done and dusted by next week. That's how a serious political party acts.
