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Conservative leadership: Ballot papers being counted after first round of voting closes - live news Tory leadership: Boris Johnson leads with 114 votes as Leadsom, McVey and Harper knocked out – live
(32 minutes later)
Robert Halfon, the Harlow MP who is supporting Sajid Javid, said the home secretary had come in a “strong fifth place”.
“It’s all to play for,” he told reporters after the vote.
The public figures were 17 to 19 votes, and Jajid got 23. The momentum’s building up. We’ve got Ruth Davidson on our side, so we’re really happy.
Obviously Boris Johnson is well ahead, but Sajid has come up. He’s clearly a very strong candidate, building up momentum all week.
Esther McVey has issued this statement.
I am extremely grateful to those people who voted for me in this election and to the fantastic team who have supported my campaign.
I am pleased to have had a platform to make the case for Blue Collar Conservatism, a clean break from the EU and the need to invest money into schools, policing and a proper pay rise for our public sector workers.
I will speak to the remaining candidates to see who is best placed to deliver on that programme.
I wish the remaining candidates well and I hope that all Conservative MPs will unite behind whoever wins this contest which is essential to prevent the disaster of a Marxist government.
Whoever becomes the new leader will certainly receive my support.
Gillan says seven candidates are eligible to go through to the next round, and three of them - Mark Harper, Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey - have been eliminated.
Cheryl Gillan, the joint acting chairman of the 1922 Committee, is now reading out the results.
All 313 Tory MPs voted, she says. There were no spoilt ballot papers.
Boris Johnson - 114
Jeremy Hunt - 43
Michael Gove - 37
Dominic Raab - 27
Sajid Javid - 23
Matt Hancock - 20
Rory Stewart - 19
Mark Harper - 10
Andrea Leadsom - 11
Esther McVey - 9
Only 2 leadership candidates in room for this ballot announcement: Raab and Stewart. Make of that what you will.
Leadership candidates starting to arrive for leadership count. Dominic Raab and Rory Stewart here. Boris Johnson 'not coming', according to a supporter: 'He's holed up in his office'
From the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman
If you include the two no confidence votes in IDS and May, this is the sixth time I have waited for Tory MPs to make or break the careers of their colleagues. The highlight is always the look on the faces of the careerists who backed the wrong horse
Awaiting the results! Rory Stewart is here, looking a bit peely wally (pale and wan) as my Scottish nan would say. Has he got the magic 17 votes?Awaiting the results! Rory Stewart is here, looking a bit peely wally (pale and wan) as my Scottish nan would say. Has he got the magic 17 votes?
He now takes his seat next to supporter David GaukeHe now takes his seat next to supporter David Gauke
From the New Statesman’s Patrick MaguireFrom the New Statesman’s Patrick Maguire
Source on Team Johnson reckons they will poll in the high 80s. Hunt on 70 plus. Gove between 50 and 60. Javid between 30 and 40. Worth remembering that whips and Tory vice chairs can’t declare publicly, so every chance candidates have more support than they appear to.Source on Team Johnson reckons they will poll in the high 80s. Hunt on 70 plus. Gove between 50 and 60. Javid between 30 and 40. Worth remembering that whips and Tory vice chairs can’t declare publicly, so every chance candidates have more support than they appear to.
Former Vote Leave guru Matthew Elliott is here, with Sajid Javid badge onFormer Vote Leave guru Matthew Elliott is here, with Sajid Javid badge on
Rory Stewart arrives, on his ownRory Stewart arrives, on his own
Domininc Raab turns up to hear the result of the first round of the @Conservatives leadership contest - more press than politicians here - only a few minutes to goDomininc Raab turns up to hear the result of the first round of the @Conservatives leadership contest - more press than politicians here - only a few minutes to go
From Sky’s Beth RigbyFrom Sky’s Beth Rigby
NEW: Ballot closed and I’m told by sources on ‘22 that it was decided to disallowed phones in room because of an aggressive whipping operation from Team Johnson. Told had been instructed to take photo of their ballot paper to prove they’d backed Johnson.NEW: Ballot closed and I’m told by sources on ‘22 that it was decided to disallowed phones in room because of an aggressive whipping operation from Team Johnson. Told had been instructed to take photo of their ballot paper to prove they’d backed Johnson.
While we are waiting for the results, you might enjoy this Twitter thread from my colleague Marina Hyde.While we are waiting for the results, you might enjoy this Twitter thread from my colleague Marina Hyde.
I am looking again Boris’s novel 72 Virgins (that’s the title not the readership). Sex between two characters is described as the man “do[ing] that wonderful thing to her again”.I am looking again Boris’s novel 72 Virgins (that’s the title not the readership). Sex between two characters is described as the man “do[ing] that wonderful thing to her again”.
It includes this tweet.It includes this tweet.
Another character is "an alpha male so alpha he'd have been awarded a congratulatory first by the examiners in Advanced Virility ... He simply had the right stuff exploding from every orifice. In fact his machismo was so intense he was sometimes considered a danger to himself."Another character is "an alpha male so alpha he'd have been awarded a congratulatory first by the examiners in Advanced Virility ... He simply had the right stuff exploding from every orifice. In fact his machismo was so intense he was sometimes considered a danger to himself."
A few minutes after Marina posted that, the Tory MP Johnny Mercer posted this.A few minutes after Marina posted that, the Tory MP Johnny Mercer posted this.
Delighted to have voted for my friend. When it comes to leadership, the man/woman has to meet with the moment. In this moment it’s clear: time to get this man into No.10. pic.twitter.com/sc1DmTnswIDelighted to have voted for my friend. When it comes to leadership, the man/woman has to meet with the moment. In this moment it’s clear: time to get this man into No.10. pic.twitter.com/sc1DmTnswI
From the Sun’s Steve HawkesFrom the Sun’s Steve Hawkes
Heavy spinning by the leadership camps. Team Boris saying they’ll get 90 and Jeremy Hunt has got his vote out. Team Jeremy saying they’ll be happy to match Michael Gove.Heavy spinning by the leadership camps. Team Boris saying they’ll get 90 and Jeremy Hunt has got his vote out. Team Jeremy saying they’ll be happy to match Michael Gove.
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader and a Boris Johnson supporter, played down the prospect of Johnson taking part in the two televised hustings planned within the next week when he was interviewed on the BBC a few minutes ago. Duncan Smith said:
My sense about the live television debates is I’m not sure that they have any effect at all on MPs. MPs probably watch less television than most others do, and they tend to want to do this internally.
Channel 4 News is planning a televised hustings for Sunday night, and the BBC has one planned for Tuesday.
Duncan Smith said he would expect Johnson to take part in TV events once the contest gets down to the final two, and party members are voting.
This is from BuzzFeed’s Alex Wickham.
Tory leadership candidates have been told they have to pay CCHQ £150,000 if they get to the final two, to pay for the hustings around the countryBig buy-in (but Jeremy Hunt could probably pay it with his loose change)
And it’s true, according to a source from one of the Tory leadership campaigns.
This is from the Independent’s John Rentoul, who has been running a sweepstake on the results. It is obviously a classy sweepstake if Rentoul is differentiating between the mean and median Boris Johnson score.
Sweepstake closed: 130 entries. Johnson mean guess 101, median 99; 46% put Gove in 3rd place; 45% put McVey 10th
In the committee corridor Rory Stewart says he’s got dozens of MPs who tell him he’s their man, but they owe too much to other candidates who they’ve served for in the past.
Is he trying to win them over in the corridor in the last minutes? “Yes - by looking deeply into their eyes, I hope so,” says Stewart.
Stewart says that he’s polling higher than Boris and is the man to unite the country. He says liberal Twitter loves him so much because he speaks from the heart, he appeals to young people, people in cities.
Asked if he’d back Sajid Javid, the other candidate pitching himself as the change candidate who can appeal to new demographics, he says: “I’ll have to think long and hard about who I’ll pick. He’s a nice man.”
From my colleague Peter Walker
The Tory leadership ballot boxes have just been carried out of committee room 14. We’ll have a result in about an hour. Several of the candidates are still lurking outside.
Andrea Jenkyns has tweeted a picture of her toddler son.
Clifford and Mummy just been to vote in #conservativeleadership. All dressed up in his shirt and tie! pic.twitter.com/ubHXDihc15
(Perhaps he should be standing. At least he’s got an excuse for believing in unicorns.)
It’s 12pm. Voting has closed.
The 1922 Committee is due to announce the results about 1pm.
Ken Clarke, the former chancellor and Tory pro-European, has just strolled down the committee corridor casually to find an eager Rory Stewart awaiting him. Stewart walked him down the corridor declaring to journalists: “This is the man who’s going to save my life.” Clarke is due to vote for Stewart, but the Stewart team were starting to worry that he might miss the 12pm deadline, when voting closes.
Downing Street is pushing back against Sajid Javid’s criticism of the fact he was not invited to Donald Trump’s state banquet (see 9.37am), saying he was among many ministers to have been disappointed. Theresa May’s spokesman told journalists this morning:
This was a state banquet hosted by Her Majesty the Queen, so I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss in public who did or did not ask to attend. But as with any state banquet, only a limited number of places are available to the government. A large number of ministers who expressed a wish to attend were not able to do so.
No 10 are always wary about discussing royal-related matters on the record, but a Downing Street source said that the view of the White House or US embassy were “categorically not a factor” in deciding to not invite Javid, the home secretary.
There is, the source said, a “fixed list” of people who must attend, including the PM, chancellor and foreign secretary, and there were in total eight slots available for ministers. The source also pointed out that the then-home secretary at the time of Barack Obama’s 2011 state visit – one T May – did not attend the banquet.
There were, however, no answers on how the decision-making process took place, and its undeniable that the optics are not great when the one Muslim-heritage member of the cabinet, who occupies one of the great offices of state, cannot attend a state banquet for Trump, whose anti-Muslim view and policies are much chronicled.
In the committee corridor David Davis is refusing to make any bets on who will win, lose, or to speculate on whom Theresa May might be voting for. The two went for a drink last night, he says - but he insists he wasn’t campaigning for Dominic Raab when they met.