Tories select final two leadership candidates as James Cleverly crashes out

Tory MPs have narrowed the remaining three leadership candidates - James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch - down to two in the race to succeed Rishi Sunak

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick will battle it out to be the next Tory leader after James Cleverly was dramatically dunked out of the race.

Mr Cleverly was expected to cruise through to the final two, but MPs rallied around the most right-wing candidates. It is an extraordinary turnaround for Ms Badenoch, who came out on top in the latest round of voting - having come third just 24 hours before.

She secured 42 of 120 possible votes, with Mr Jenrick just one behind. Former Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary Mr Cleverly - who came first in the previous round - fell short with 37.

Tory MPs have finally narrowed the contenders down to two as the party reels from a historic General Election defeat. It will now be down to party members - who previously inflicted Liz Truss on the nation - to choose the winner.

Dame Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat have previously been knocked out by MPs. Rishi Sunak remains Conservative leader despite having announced he was stepping down back on July 5. The winner is expected to be announced on November 2 - three days after Labour's first Budget since coming to power.

Last week the final four contenders made their pitch at the Tory Party Conference in Birmingham, with Mr Cleverly overwhelmingly thought to have boosted his chances. The former Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary told delegates he is the candidate Labour fears the most as he pointed to his rivals' lack of experience.

Mr Cleverly picked up 39 votes in the previous round, but just one ballot separated Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch, who received 31 and 30 respectively. It left both scrambling to secure 11th-hour backings from their parliamentary colleagues.

After Tuesday's result Ms Badenoch's campaign urged the Tory right to "coalesce" around the former business secretary, although a source in Mr Jenrick's campaign said he was "in prime position to make the final two".