Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick will now compete for the leadership of the Conservative Party after securing the top two spots in the latest round of voting. The contest is shaping up to be a battle between the right wing of the party, with both candidates promising a more populist approach.
Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick will now fight it out for the Tory leadership. As the results were announced in Parliament’s wood-panelled Committee Room 15, there was an audible gasp. James Cleverly – who had become the Kemi Badenoch took the lead in the Tory leadership contest by one vote to Robert Jenrick , as the pair now battle it out with the party’s membership. With the centrists eliminated, the Tories are going to tack right.
A spokesman for Cleverly said the campaign had not lent votes. A spokesman for Jenrick denied it as well. Unfortunately for reporters sitting in Parliament’s cavernous committee meeting room, none of the candidates showed up, so no one could judge their just-lost-the-Oscar-so-very-pleased-for-you close-up shot. Instead, the Chairman of the 1922 Committee Bob Blackman read out the results. He read out Badenoch first – 42 votes. “She’s got it,” reporters said. Jenrick scored 41. There was a gasp when Cleverly lost, most had thought he was a shoo-in.
The accusation was being aired came because Tuesday’s third round of MP voting saw Cleverly’s support swell, up 18 MPs to 39. Meanwhile Jenrick lost two backers to reach 31, while Badenoch added two to reach 30. So far ahead – the MPs speculated – Cleverly could afford to choose who to face in the run-off against members. Lending votes could boost Jenrick over the line, they said, eliminating Badenoch would make an overall Cleverly win more likely. In the end Cleverly lost votes overnight.
Tory Leadership Kemi Badenoch Robert Jenrick Conservative Party UK Politics
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