Dame Priti Patel became the first candidate eliminated from the Tory leadership contest after she received the fewest votes in a ballot of the 121 Tory MPs.
The results of the first ballot were:
- Robert Jenrick 28
- Kemi Badenoch 22
- James Cleverly 21
- Tom Tugendhat 17
- Mel Stride 16
- Priti Patel 14
Bob Blackman, Chairman of the 1922 Committee, read the results out in Westminster this afternoon, and confirmed that a second vote will take place on Tuesday. Next week’s vote will eliminate another candidate from the race, with the remaining 4 heading to the Conservative Party Conference at the end of September to make their case to members.
Following the conference, MPs will eliminate another 2 candidates, with the final pair being put to a vote of party members. Rishi Sunak’s replacement will then be announced on 2nd November.
Patel was certainly on the right of the Tory party, known for her tough stance on immigration, kickstarting the controversial Rwanda migration scheme in 2022 as Home Secretary. Her leadership campaign focused on giving party members a “greater voice” in formulating policy and electing the party chairman. She blamed party infighting for their election defeat, and argued that “the majority of the electorate” share Conservative values.
With Patel eliminated, her supporters will have to throw their support behind another candidate. She is yet to make a formal endorsement but it would be expected that those on the right of the party, namely Jenrick and Badenoch, will be the recipients of Patel’s 14 votes in next week’s ballot. The more moderate candidates of Tugendhat and Stride, who finished 4th and 5th in the first vote, are therefore most vulnerable to elimination. With only 121 Tory MPs remaining following their election defeat in July, Patel’s 14 supporters will make a huge difference in the second ballot next week.
Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch were seen as the favourites coming into the contest, with Conservative Home putting Badenoch on 34% in a survey of members, with Robert Jenrick on 18%. Jenrick finished on top in today’s ballot of MPs, with 28 votes compared to Badenoch’s 22.
In reaction, Kemi Badenoch wrote on X, formerly twitter, that there was “huge support” for her campaign, and vowed to “deal with hard truths today, rather than big problems tomorrow”.
James Cleverly thanked colleagues for their support, and declared that “momentum is on our side”. He also paid tribute to Priti Patel, saying she had “run a fantastic campaign” and that she would be an “integral party of the future of our party”.
Tom Tugendhat said that his rivals were “friends and good Conservatives” but that only he could “deliver the Conservative revolution that our party and our nation need”.
Reacting to Patel’s elimination, a Labour spokesperson argued that all the candidates had all “played their hand in 14 years of chaos and decline” under the previous government, and that “not one of them is prepared to learn from the lessons of the past.
