Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt are through to the final stage of the Tory leadership contest, after the results of the fifth round of voting were announced this evening. Michael Gove has been knocked out of the competition, after falling just two votes short (75 vs 77). Cries of foul play have followed, with suspicion that Team Boris “lent” several votes to Hunt.
Boris Johnson managed to win 160 votes from his colleagues: the majority of MPs. But this is just three more than the previous round. Odd given that Sajid Javid scored 34 votes this morning, before he was eliminated. Did all but three of Javid’s supporters move to Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove? That sounds suspicious given that at least four of Javid’s supporters said they were moving to Boris: Mims Davies, Chris Philp, Kevin Foster and Mike Wood. Those in the Javid camp reckon they split fairly evenly for Boris and Gove, with only two or three going for Hunt.
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