Conservative MPs have voted in the fifth round of their leadership contest, eliminating Penny Mordaunt from the race and setting the stage for a head-to-head showdown between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak topped the ballot again with the backing of 118 MPs, while Liz Truss leapfrogged her rival, apparently benefiting from transfers from a previously eliminated candidat, right-winger Kemi Badenoch.
The table after the fifth round looks like this:
Rishi Sunak – 137
Liz Truss – 113
The eliminated candidate is:
Penny Mordaunt – 105
Ms Mordaunt picked up a further 13 votes after the elimination of Ms Badenoch, but it was not enough to maintain her fourth-round lead over Ms Truss, who picked up an extra 27 votes. Many of the votes went to Mr Sunak, who picked up an extra 19 MP supporters.
This was the last round in which only MPs will take part: now there are just two candidates, they will spend the summer campaigning, and will be put to the rank-and-file Tory membership.
Whoever wins that contest, the winner of which will be announced in September, will become the new leader of the Conservative party, and will replace Boris Johnson as prime minister.
