With only 14 public sponsors each, it’s no surprise that Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi didn’t get the 30 votes the MPs needed.
The results, announced right now by Sir Graham Brady, leave six candidates for MPs to vote tomorrow. Rishi Sunak, as expected, is in the lead with 88 votes, although he is followed more closely by Penny Mordaunt, who has 67 sponsors.
The right-wing party is split – between Liz Truss (50), Kemi Badenoch (40) and Suella Braverman (32) – while Tom Tugendhat, a more liberal ‘One Nation Tory’ candidate, remains in the race with 37 followers.
Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, is already taking the results as a show of support for the “candidate who is best placed to beat Labor and the Liberals”. It’s also a sign that Sunak may feel good about his prospects as prime minister, but it shows the strength of support for Penny Mordaunt, which reflects what members seem to think.