Robert Jenrick has emerged as the frontrunner in the Conservative Party leadership contest after securing the most votes in the first round of balloting by the Conservative MPs.
Dame Priti Patel, after garnering the least number of votes from the MPs, has been eliminated from the leadership bid.
Robert Jenrick, backed by 28 Conservative MPs, leads the pack, finishing six votes ahead of Kemi Badenoch, who claimed the second spot with 22 votes.
In a closely contested race, James Cleverly followed in third with 21 votes, while Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride secured fourth and fifth places with 17 and 16 votes respectively. Dame Priti Patel, after garnering only 14 votes, was eliminated from the leadership bid.
Shortly after the result, Ms Patel issued the following statement:
Mr. Cleverly said of Priti’s exit from the race:
“A great colleague, formidable campaigner and a brilliant Conservative Home Secretary.
Priti Patel has run a fantastic campaign and deserves huge credit for her hard work. She will be an integral part of the future of our Party.”
Tom Tugendhat remained confident in his campaign, declaring that while his rivals are “all friends,” he believes he is the only candidate capable of delivering the “Conservative revolution that our Party and our nation need.”
Supporters of Kemi Badenoch, including shadow minister Andrew Griffith, are hopeful. Griffith remarked, “At this point in the cycle, you often see people come through and gather support and momentum, and it seems to me Kemi’s got that momentum.”
The contest now moves to the next phase, with a second vote scheduled for next Tuesday, in which the field will be reduced to four candidates. The successful candidates will then make their case to the party members at the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham at the end of the month.
Subsequent rounds of voting will take place from October 9-10 to further whittle down the field, leaving the final two contenders who will face a ballot of Conservative Party members.
The voting process concludes on October 31, and the new leader—replacing Rishi Sunak—will be announced on November 2.
As Priti Patel was the first to be eliminated and Suella Braverman felt unable to even run, does it not prove that the overwhelming majority of MPs are not real Conservatives at all?