Tom Tugendhat received 20 votes, the lowest of all four contenders

Tugendhat eliminated from Tory leadership contest

Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has been eliminated from the race to succeed Rishi Sunak.

Following a vote of party MPs this afternoon, Mr Tugendhat received 20 votes, the lowest of all four contenders.

Former Home Secretary James Cleverly MP received the most votes, with 39.

Former Minister Robert Jenrick came in second place with 31 votes, followed by former Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch with 30.

Further voting by Conservative MPs will take place tomorrow, when the three remaining contenders will be reduced to two.

The final winner will be chosen by a vote of the wider party membership, the results of which will be announced on 2 November.

All four contenders took part in separate speeches at the Conservative party conference last week in a bid to win over the party faithful.

Yesterday, one former leadership candidate, Mel Stride, announced that he would be supporting Mr Cleverly.