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The third Tory leadership ballot – as it happened

Tugendhat crashes out as Rishi surges ahead

(Getty)

The results of the third round of MPs voting to be the next Tory leader are in. 

8.55 p.m. Has the Penny dropped?

James Forsyth writes… Penny Mordaunt had a mixed night this evening. Her lead over Liz Truss is still in double figures, but she actually polled one fewer vote than she had on Thursday. In her statement tonight she heaps praise on Tom Tugendhat, saying they ‘are both committed to a clean start for the party’ and lauding him as ‘one of the strongest assets on the Conservative green benches.’ It also contains an implicit dig at the Truss campaign, with a declaration that she is ‘running a truly clean campaign’.

8.45 p.m. Where do Tugendhat’s votes go?

Katy Balls writes… While Rishi Sunak looks on course for the final two barring an upset, it’s much more unclear who is likely to join him in the final two. There is very little between the other three candidates. With another ballot due in less than 24 hours, expect a late night of horse trading between the campaign teams. Penny Mordaunt backer George Freeman attempted to put a positive spin on Mordaunt losing a vote – suggesting that he was relieved it wasn’t more than that after a weekend of brutal attacks. The problem for Truss is that the votes up for grabs now are Tugendhat’s – and the general expectation had been that these are more likely to go to Mordaunt or Sunak who are viewed to have more appeal to One-Nation Tories. However, chief Tugendhat backer Anne-Marie Trevelyan has been very critical of Mordaunt. Could Badenoch be in contention for some of these votes? What Badenoch and Tugendhat have in common is that they are fresh faces – so there is a chance that some of Tugendhat’s backers move to the remaining insurgent in the race.

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