Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss will go head-to-head to become the next leader of the Conservative Party after Penny Mordaunt became the latest candidate to be knocked out of the contest.
In the fifth and final round of voting by Tory MPs, the leadership contenders received the following support:
The remaining two candidates face a summer of campaigning and hustings before a vote by the wider party membership.
A winner is expected to be announced on 5 September.
Yesterday, equalities minister Kemi Badenoch was knocked out of the leadership race after receiving the fewest number of votes.
A YouGov poll of Conservative members published ahead of Tuesday’s vote showed Ms Badenoch would have beaten any of her rivals in a final head-to-head.
The same poll also suggested that Mr Sunak would struggle to win over the Tory membership irrespective of which of the remaining candidates he may face in the final two.
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The leadership contest was triggered after Boris Johnson announced he would be leaving Downing Street after an avalanche of ministerial resignations over his handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.
He will remain as prime minister until his successor has been named.
