A probe has been launched into alleged leaks seemingly aimed at torpedoing Penny Mordaunt's bid for Downing Street.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has opened an inquiry after confidential papers suggesting Ms Mordaunt had planned to water down rules for gender transitioning emerged at the weekend.
The documents, dating back to her period as equalities minister in 2018 and 2019, were claimed to have been released by civil servants with the intention of damaging her campaign.
Ms Mordaunt dismissed the leak as "smears" and "toxic politics" as Tory infighting reached new heights during the leadership contest.
Earlier today she was dumped out of the race following a vote by Tory MPs - with Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss progressing as the final two contenders.
Mr Case branded the disclosure "clearly inappropriate", writing: “I have been very clear in writing with the Civil Service that it is paramount that public resources are not used to support leadership campaigns during the Conservative Party leadership election.
“Further to that, unauthorised disclosure of government information to the media is clearly inappropriate. "In light of these facts and the concerns you raise, I can confirm that I have launched a leak investigation into this matter."
Civil servant Mr Case said that the investigation would be "completed as quickly as possible, given the importance of the subject".
It comes after papers appeared to suggest at least one element of the medical process should be removed from the legal process for transgender people to transition.
Ms Mordaunt fumed at the weekend: "This has been rebutted many times.
"We all know what is going on. This is the type of toxic politics people want to get away from."
The documents suggest that Ms Mordaunt had pushed for the requirement of trans people to get a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria before they could legally change gender.
The leadership candidate denied this, telling the BBC on Sunday that a number of "smears" were going on, adding: "My colleagues are very angry and upset that this is how the leadership is being dragged down."
Propelled by a surge of right-wing backers including Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary leapfrogged Ms Mordaunt by just eight votes in a bitter knockout round.
Bookies immediately installed her as the favourite - as while Mr Sunak was the frontrunner with MPs, polls claim Ms Truss will be more of a hit with the members.
She won 113 votes - a surge of 27 - compared to 105 for Ms Mordaunt in a final ballot of MPs. Ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak won 137 votes, easily making his way into the final two.
