James Cleverly became favourite to take over as Conservative Party leader on Tuesday after topping the latest round of voting by Tory MPs.
Shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat was knocked out of the race to replace Rishi Sunak after being backed by just 20 Conservative MPs.
Ex Home Secretary Mr Cleverly received 39 votes. Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick was second with 31 votes, followed by shadow housing secretary Kemi Badenoch with 30.
After initially being viewed as an outsider and coming equal third place with Mr Tudgendhat in the last round of parliamentary voting, Mr Cleverly has picked up significant support in the later stages of the leadership contest.
He was seen as performing well at the Conservative Party Conference last week where he urged the party to be “more normal”.
On Tuesday he was backed by Paul Holmes, who quit as a Tory whip in order to publicly declare his support, as well as former leadership rival Mel Stride.
At the last round of voting, Mr Jenrick came out on top with the backing of 33 fellow Tory MPs. Ms Badenoch was second on 28 votes, while Mr Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat got 21 votes each.
Mr Holmes used a Conservative Home article to announce he was resigning as a whip so he could waive the neutrality required for that position to endorse Mr Cleverly.
“I know that he is ready to act now, and ready to hit the ground running from day one,” Mr Holmes said.
“He is someone that can bring together a team from all wings of our party, a team that will focus relentlessly on delivery.”
Former minister and ex-MP Steve Baker, who backed Mr Tugendhat, said Mr Cleverly is “extremely affable” but added that “being affable is not in itself enough to be a successful prime minister”.
Mr Jenrick has put leaving the ECHR at the centre of his campaign and sparked a backlash last week after he claimed in a video that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing” terrorists.
Ms Badenoch faced criticism during the Tory Party conference for suggesting statutory maternity pay places an “excessive” burden on small businesses and claiming that five to 10 per cent of civil servants belong in “prison”.
Both Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch are seen as battling for the support of the right of the party as they attempt to make the final two, with Mr Cleverly now likely to make the final round as the “One Nation” wing’s candidate.
A spokesperson for Ms Badenoch’s campaign said the party’s right wing “needs to coalesce around Kemi” given the fall in Mr Jenrick’s support, adding the former business secretary “can reach across and unify the party, has the star quality to cut through in opposition, and is indisputably the members’ choice for leader”.
Polling suggests the Conservative membership favours Ms Badenoch over Mr Jenrick and Mr Cleverly, but that the gap has narrowed since the Conservative Party conference.
A source from Mr Jenrick’s campaign said he was “in prime position to make the final two”.
The source said: “MPs want seriousness and competence. That’s why he’s won support from across the party so far – from Danny Kruger on the right to Vicky Atkins on the left.”
Mr Tugendhat thanked his supporters in a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying: “Your energy, your ideas and your support have shown a vision of what our party could become.
“Our campaign has ended but our commitment to our country continues.”
