Three Candidates Eliminated From Tory Leadership Contest

13 June 2019, 13:07 | Updated: 13 June 2019, 13:24

Three candidates have been eliminated from the Conservative leadership contest following the first round of voting.

The 10 candidates were required to get the backing of 17 MPs in order to reach the second round.

Andrea Leadsom, Mark Harper and Esther McVey did not get enough support and are out of the race to be the next Prime Minister.

The candidates will move on to round two, in which they will need 33 MPs behind them to move to the next round. That result will be announced on Tuesday at 6pm.

Boris Johnson led the poll by a large distance, getting 114 votes, with Jeremy Hunt second with 43.

After the announcement, Mr Johnson tweeted: "Thank you to my friends and colleagues in the Conservative & Unionist Party for your support. I am delighted to win the first ballot, but we have a long way to go."

Rory Stewart, who made it through to the next round with the fewest votes, tweeted: "THANK YOU - to all my colleagues who voted for me. We can win this. Realism, action, unity, trust. Thank you."

The question now is who the votes for Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey and Mark Harper go to.

Conservative Leadership Contest: First Vote Results

Boris Johnson: 114
Jeremy Hunt: 43
Michael Gove: 37
Sajid Javid 23
Matt Hancock: 20
Rory Stewart: 19
Andrea Leadsom: 11
Mark Harper: 10
Esther McVey: 9