South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt knocked out of leadership race
The second round of voting in the Conservative leadership contest starts this morning (14 July) with the shortlist down to six candidates.
Nadhim Zahawi didn't get the 30 supporters he needed yesterday (13 July) and neither did South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt.
Mr Hunt criticised the remaining Tory leadership contenders for "smears and attacks" after he was knocked out of the contest with the fewest votes in the first ballot of Tory MPs.
The former foreign secretary tweeted: "A gentle word of advice to the remaining candidates: smears & attacks may bring short term tactical gain but always backfire long term.
"The nation is watching & they've had enough of our drama; be the broad church & unbeatable, election winning machine that our country deserves.
"I want to thank my incredible team of loyal and talented supporters who put their faith in me. It’s become obvious to me you only get one big shot at this, and I had mine in 2019."
The 55-year-old finished second to Mr Johnson in the Conservative leadership contest three years ago.
He also said that "with the amazing array of talent on offer in this contest" he felt "confident that we are on track to win back trust".
Rishi Sunak, whose resignation from No 11 helped trigger the Tory leadership race, topped the ballot, with trade minister Penny Mordaunt ahead of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Senior backbencher Tom Tugendhat, Attorney General Suella Braverman and former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch also progressed to the final six candidates.
There's another round of voting, before Conservative members eventually get their say on the final two leadership candidates.