Mel Stride Has Become The Latest Candidate Kicked Out Of The Tory Leadership Race

Mel Stride has become the latest candidate to be kicked out of the Tory leadership contest.

The former cabinet minister came last in a ballot of Conservative MPs.

He follows Priti Patel out of the exit door after she was ejected from the race in the first MPs’ ballot last week.

It means there are now four candidates left in the contest - Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat.

They will now go forward to the Tory conference in Birmingham later this month, where they will each seek to convince MPs and party members that they have what it takes to succeed Rishi Sunak as leader.

Jenrick once again came top of the latest ballot with 33 votes, followed by Badenoch on 28, with Tugendhat and Cleverly both on 21 and Stride in last place on 16.

There will be two more ballots of Tory MPs after the party conference, after which the final two candidates will face one another in a run-off, with party members choosing the winner, who will be announced on November 2.