THE elimination of James Cleverly from the Conservative Party leadership contest is being met with shock and dismay by party members following the shock result.
Despite receiving the most number of votes in a previous ballot of Tory MPs, Cleverly was knocked out of the contest on Wednesday in the fourth and final ballot of MPs.
It means that the only candidates who remain —Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick — come from the hard right of the party.
Speaking to PA, one Tory MP said they were now getting messages from local members saying “what the hell are you doing?”
The MP said: “One of two things has happened. Either a number of people lent James Cleverly their votes yesterday and rolled them back.
“Or James Cleverly’s lent votes to Robert Jenrick and over-egged it.”
However, there was also speculation that some MPs had backed their second favourite candidate, assuming their preferred choice was already safe.
The MP said supporters of both Jenrick and Badenoch had been asking MPs suspected of backing Cleverly to lend support to one of them to get them on the ballot.
The Tory source said they did not “fall for that” but “it’s possible some people may have been dumb enough”.
"I am not with any of the camps, but it seems tactical voting has taken place on an industrial scale either yesterday, today, or both.
"It pains me to say it, but one STV ballot paper - rather than multiple rounds - would probably solve it."
"This is the serious business of selecting a Leader of the Opposition and prospective future Prime Minister.
"It shouldn’t be done on the whim of a dozen MPs trying to be too clever."
The decision is likely to spell trouble for Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, with the two remaining candidates seeking to outflank Reform UK by leaning into increasingly right-wing policies.
Last week, Badenoch suggested she would make major changes to the devolution settlement if she becomes prime minister and Jenrick has campaigned on removing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights. Indeed, Findlay's reaction to the news was notably muted.
When asked by STV if he thought any of them would "be any good", he said:
"We'll have to see who wins".
