Tory leadership race: Mel Stride knocked out as MPs whittle candidates to four

Mel Stride has been knocked out of the Tory leadership race as Conservative MPs voted to whittle the remaining candidates down to four.

The former work and pensions secretary received just 16 votes, the lowest number of votes, meaning he was eliminated from the process, while Robert Jenrick led the pack on 33 votes.

Kemi Badenoch followed on 28 votes, while former home and foreign secretary James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat, previously security minister, were tied joint third on 21 votes.

Speaking earlier to Times Radio, Stride, who finished fifth in the first round, insisted: “I’m quietly confident but I’m certainly not taking anything for granted. There’s all to fight for.”

It comes ahead of hustings set to be held at the party conference in late September, before members vote on the final two candidates and a new leader is announced on November 2.

The results were announced by the chairman of the 1922 committee, Bob Blackman, in a Parliamentary committee room on Tuesday afternoon, who confirmed 119 votes were cast. 

Candidates still in the race will now compete to scoop up Stride’s votes ahead of another round of ballots for MPs.

Former home secretary Priti Patel was knocked out in the first round of MP votes last week, on September 4, with 14 votes when former immigration minister Jenrick emerged as the frontrunner among his Commons colleagues.

However former business and trade secretary Badenoch has been widely seen as the favourite among Tory members, who are often described as further to the right than the Parliamentary party.

The contest follows a torrid election result for the Conservatives on 4 July, which saw them win just 121 seats, a loss of 244 compared to their 2019 total of 365 constituencies.