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    Hunt backs Sunak

    Hunt backs Sunak
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    Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi are out of the leadership contest after failing to get 30 votes from Tory MPs on Wednesday. Six candidates are now left in the race: Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman. Another round of voting takes place tomorrow, with the candidate with the fewest votes knocked out of the contest. Follow the latest updates from the race here:

    9.50pm – Hunt backs Sunak

    James Forsyth writes... Jeremy Hunt, who was eliminated from the Tory leadership race earlier today, has announced that he is backing Rishi Sunak. Several candidates might have hoped for the former Foreign Secretary's backing. Mordaunt supported him in 2019, introducing him at his launch, and Tom Tugendhat is on the same one nation wing of the party. Hunt has said that he’s backing Sunak because the ‘big challenge we face now is economic’ and because of ‘character’. 

    His backing is a boost for Sunak, who topped the poll today. But in Tory leadership races the key question is how many of those who backed Hunt (he got 18 votes today) follow his lead. We wait to see if a significant chunk of his support is moving to Sunak. The other candidate knocked out today, Nadhim Zahawi, has indicated that he won’t be making an endorsement. But we have not yet seen where most of the 25 people who voted for him are now going.

    7.38pm – Who does Sunak want to face: Mordaunt or Truss?

    Robert Peston writes...  I am making a bold assumption – which may not hold – that Sunak is very likely to get to the long run-off contest over the summer, since he needs only another 32 votes to reach the magic 120, which guarantees a spot in the last two. So the question is whether he has enough backers signed up or likely to come over such that he can lend some of their votes to any candidate he would feel more confident of beating in the final run-off.

    You may recall that when Boris Johnson became leader in 2019 he was so far ahead that he lent some votes to Jeremy Hunt, on the basis he felt more confident beating Hunt in the run-off than third placed Michael Gove. So the question for Sunak is whether he would rather face Truss or Mordaunt. What’s your bet?

    Read Robert’s full blog here.

    7.23pm – Podcast: Who will Hunt and Zahawi's supporters back?

    Cindy Yu writes... The first ballot of the Tory leadership contest is now over, with Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi knocked out as they weren't able to meet the 30 votes required in this round (on 18 votes, Hunt actually lost two supporters from yesterday's nomination round). The question of who their supporters fold in behind next is the biggest for the next 24 hours. On the Coffee House Shots podcast, I speak to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about the big night ahead for the remaining six leadership contenders, as well as the battle for the right of the party between Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman. Listen to the episode here.

    5.37pm – Zahawi fails to endorse another candidate

    James Forsyth writes... Nadhim Zawahi has just issued a statement which says he doesn’t ‘intend to make any further intervention’ – which is another way of saying that he is planning to stay neutral and not endorse anyone in this race. So, we now wait to see where his 25 supporters go.

    5.35pm – How did Jeremy Hunt end up losing votes?

    Isabel Hardman writes... Jeremy Hunt actually managed to get fewer votes than nominations today. There are a number of reasons why two MPs may have turned away from him. One of them is that there was a rumour going round as voting was taking place that he was going to drop out because he knew he didn't have the numbers to make the threshold of 30. The other is that some MPs were under the impression that votes had been ‘lent’ to the Hunt campaign by Rishi Sunak's camp. This was furiously denied by both sides, and appeared to be a rumour from another campaign, as was the first claim about him dropping out. That's why there is more and more talk of 'dirty tricks' in this campaign – which are unlikely to fade as the contest narrows and different wings of the party try to stop the candidates they find the least palatable. Hunt seems to agree – he has tweeted criticism of ‘smears and attacks’: 

    5.16pm – The challenge for Suella Braverman

    James Forsyth writes... Rishi Sunak has topped the first round of voting with 88 votes. Penny Mordaunt was second on 67. Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi didn’t make the 30 vote threshold and so are out of the contest. In the rest of the field, Liz Truss came third on 50 votes, Kemi Badenoch was fourth on 40, Tom Tugendhat was fifth on 37 and Suella Braverman sixth on 32. As long as Braverman is in the contest, it will be hard for Truss to consolidate the right behind her. This contest comes quick and fast with the next round of voting tomorrow. There are 43 votes to be picked up with Hunt and Zahawi out. Momentum matters in this contest so there’ll be a lot of jockeying to try and secure as many of those as possible. Kemi Badenoch’s 40 votes is very impressive for a junior minister who unexpectedly entered the race. By surpassing Hunt, Tugendhat has now established himself as the leading figure on the One Nation wing of the party. The challenge for Suella Braverman will be where to pick up more support from. At the moment, most of her support is coming from the ERG and it is hard to see where she gets the extra votes to put her into fifth place tomorrow.

    5.14pm – Will the right now back a single candidate?

    Katy Balls writes... Will these results incentivise the right of the party to rally around one candidate? The results showed Liz Truss on 50 nominations, Kemi Badenoch on 40 nominations and Suella Braverman on 32 nominations. Many of these votes come from the same pool in the party. Given the two candidates in the lead are Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, this flank of the party would be best served to pick a candidate to rally around if they want to be sure of having a candidate who represents their interests in the final two.

    5.09pm – Why Zahawi’s leadership bid crumbled

    Katy Balls writes... Two candidates have been knocked out in the first round of the Tory leadership contest: Nadhim Zahawi and Jeremy Hunt. In the case of Hunt, his shortfall is down to Tom Tugendhat coming out on top as the preferred candidate of the One Nation wing of the party. As for Zahawi, the cabinet minister had been talked up recently as a potential unifier candidate. However, over the past week he has suffered a series of blows. His decision to back Boris Johnson and take the role of Chancellor after Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak resigned was initially well received by Johnson loyalists. However, when he within the space of 24 hours then joined a delegation of ministers calling for Johnson to go, he faced a backlash from both sides of the party. As one senior Tory put it to me: ‘80 per cent of the job is judgment and he failed his first test’.

    5.04pm – Hunt and Zahawi out, Sunak gets the most votes

    Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi have failed to reach 30 votes from Tory MPs and so are out of the leadership contest. Sunak came top, followed by Mordaunt and then Truss. The full results are below:

    Rishi Sunak - 88

    Penny Mourdant - 67

    Liz Truss - 50

    Kemi Badenoch - 40

    Tom Tugendhat - 37

    Suella Braverman - 32

    Eliminated:

    Nadhim Zahawi - 25

    Jeremy Hunt - 18

    4.12pm – Who is Starmer most afraid of?

    Katy Balls writes... Who is the candidate Keir Starmer is most afraid of? When it comes to Tory membership polling, it’s not been the best day for Rishi Sunak – with his leadership rival Penny Mordaunt surging ahead. The argument from supporters of Sunak is that he leads when it comes to which candidate would fare best with the general public. It seems figures in Labour high command may agree. Starmer seems at pains these days to criticise the former Chancellor. Now they’ve put out a new attack ad:

    2.39pm – Sunak’s odds plummet

    A YouGov poll released today has suggested that Rishi Sunak would lose against almost every contender when it comes to the final vote of Tory members. Accordingly Sunak's implied odds have plummeted, with Penny Mordaunt, who came out top in the YouGov poll, now surging ahead. Only yesterday both Sunak and Mordaunt were on level pegging with the bookies, with both having an implied probability of winning of 32 per cent. Now Mordaunt is the clear favourite with punters.

    2.17pm – Was this Boris Johnson’s farewell PMQs?

    Isabel Hardman writes... Is Boris Johnson going to turn up to Prime Minister’s Questions next week? The final answer he gave to Keir Starmer at today’s session suggested he either thought this was his valedictory PMQs, or that he’s planning to be elsewhere next Wednesday.

    He said the next leader might be chosen by ‘acclamation’ – which doesn’t seem likely given how hostile the many camps are being to one another. Johnson added that ‘it is possible this will be our last confrontation’, and gave a barbed thanks to the Labour leader for being ‘considerably less lethal than many other members of this house’. He also said he would be leaving with his ‘head held high’. It was in part his goodbye and also his rejoinder to Starmer saying he was going to ‘miss this weekly nonsense from him’. Read Isabel’s full blog here.

    1.30pm – Liz Truss on taking on Rishi and what she’s do in No. 10

    Katy Balls writes... Liz Truss is the longest-serving cabinet member. She’s a ‘true blue’ Tory who can inspire a following with her brand of liberty-loving conservatism. She loves the party base, who in turn seem to love her. But what would she do if she becomes prime minister? Her pitch for No. 10 is simple: to be the most convincing tax-cutter in the contest and the person who can beat the former chancellor. ‘I opposed these tax rises from the start and I spoke out against the tax rises at the time. So I’m not a Johnny-come-lately to this agenda,’ she says. Read Katy's full interview here.

    12.49pm – How many candidates will make it through?

    James Forsyth writes... The 1922 Committee have just announced that the result of the first round of the Tory leadership election will be announced at 5pm. The big question is how many candidates make it through to the next round. The candidate who comes last and anyone who gets under 30 votes will be eliminated. Currently, only two candidates – Sunak and Mordaunt – have more than 30 public backers. But pretty much everyone expects that Truss and Tugendhat will break 30. What happens with the other candidates is less certain. Several of them are said to be right around this number. One supporter of one of those campaigns argues that if the race narrows to four candidates today and three tomorrow, then it will increase the emotional strain on the party. But however many get through today the pace of this campaign is brutal with the ’22 determined to be down to two candidates by the time parliament breaks up eight days from now.

    12.25pm – Can Penny Mordaunt win it?

    Katy Balls writes... Is Penny Mordaunt the dark horse in the Tory leadership race? After topping a Conservative Home poll of Tory MPs, Mordaunt is certainly viewed as a dangerous candidate by her leadership rivals. She is also signing up supporters from all parts of the Tory party, including Brexiteers, remainers and One Nation Tories. They argue that Mordaunt is a unifier. This is what makes her so dangerous to the other campaigns. Read more here.

    12.00pm – Is it really 'business as usual' in Boris's government?

    Isabel Hardman writes...Priti Patel was supposed to be going before the Home Affairs committee this morning, but pulled out, citing ministerial changes in her department and recent events. The Home Secretary is understood to have cancelled the long-planned appearance at 5pm yesterday, seriously angering members of the cross-party committee. Read more here.

    11.39am – Mordaunt promises a return to traditional conservative values

    Katy Balls writes... I’ve just been at Penny Mordaunt’s rather sweaty leadership launch at the Cinnamon Club. The members’ favourite – according to a ConHome poll this week – set out her stall for 10 Downing Street. Mordaunt suggested she would lead a return to traditional conservative values – comparing the Tory party to Paul McCartney’s Glastonbury set, she said that while everyone was happy to nod along to his new material, what people really wanted was to hear the classics – the familiar comfortable Beatles hits. She said it was the same when it came to Tory values.

    11.38am – Tom Tugendhat’s chaotic conference

    Steerpike writes… To College Green where Commander Tugendhat is holding a ‘spontaneous’ press conference. Unfortunately it seems that the ex-army officer didn’t organise the event with military precision. Poor acoustics meant that desperate hacks were left unable to even hear the questions being addressed to him. ‘How can we know if he’s answering the subject, when we don’t even know what he’s been asked?’ bewailed one to Mr S. While Team Tuggers will have hoped to convey an air of informality, the abiding impression was actually one of chaos. Unsurprisingly the man himself didn’t stick around too long, wrapping up after a mere ten minutes. Let’s hope for his sake that Captain Tom’s leadership bid lasts longer than his press conferences.

    11.26am – Mordaunt launches her campaign

    Penny Mordaunt has launched her leadership campaign this morning, arguing that she is the best candidate to replace Boris Johnson. She says:

    ‘If we do not win the next general election, all those opportunities and the vision that the British people have from us leaving the European Union will not be realised.

    We must win that election. I am your best shot at winning that election. I am the candidate that Labour fear the most. And they are right to.’

    11.06am – Tugendhat has the wind in his sails

    James Forsyth writes... The Tugendhat campaign is bullish this morning, very confident that they’ll easily pass the 30-vote threshold needed to proceed to the second round.

    The Mordaunt camp are understandably confident, given that they pretty much have the numbers in public declarations. But as one member of it remarks to me, until we see some real numbers after the first ballot it will be hard to tell what the rest of the race looks like.