Boris Johnson is on course for Number 10 after securing a commanding victory in the first round of MPs’ votes for the new Conservative leader and prime minister, beating his nearest rival Jeremy Hunt by 71 votes.
Mr Johnson scooped 114 votes, against Mr Hunt’s 43 and Michael Gove‘s 37. The former foreign secretary’s tally took him beyond the 105 required in the final round of MPs votes next week in order to progress to the postal ballot of 160,000 party members which will select the final winner.
Outsiders Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom and Mark Harper were knocked out after failing to meet the threshold of 17 votes required to progress to the next round of voting on Tuesday, but international development secretary Rory Stewart, who has ruled out a no-deal Brexit, scraped through with 19.
The result will spark frenzied horse-trading and deal-making in the corridors and backrooms of Westminster, as the all-male roster of surviving candidates try to woo supporters of their eliminated rivals.
MPs will whittle down contenders to a shortlist of two by the end of next week, after which the new prime minister will be selected towards the end of July by party members.
Their survival secures them the potentially vital opportunity to appear on the first televised hustings on Channel 4, when they will aim to raise their profiles in a race which has so far been dominated by the highly recognisable Johnson. However, it is understood that both Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt are declining to take part in the programme.
A source inside Mr Gove’s camp said their candidate had retrieved his position despite negative headlines about his admission of cocaine use as a young man.
Everyone had written us off, said one team source. People said we were going backwards in fact we gained support. We are in touching distance of second. All to play for.
A source close to Mr Hancock said the health secretary had surpassed expectations as MPs responded well to his pro-business message and his focus on taking the fight to Labour and the Liberal Democrats rather than concentrating solely on Brexit.
The result, announced by joint acting chair of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee Dame Cheryl Gillan in a Westminster committee room, put Mr Johnson on 114 votes, ahead of foreign secretary Mr Hunt on 43 and environment secretary Mr Gove on 37.
Health secretary Matt Hancock edged past the threshold to move on to the second round with 20 votes and Mr Stewart took 19. They will face the tougher challenge of gathering 33 votes on Tuesday to remain in the race.