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There’s no doubt who has momentum in the Tory leadership contest now.

James Cleverly pole-vaulted his rivals to first place – reaping the benefits of a well-thought-through, warm conference speech designed to make the party feel good about itself.

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A pitch from the Tory centre that so far appears to be appealing to all sides. Hopes in rival camps that the conference counted for little have not borne out.

But this does not by itself guarantee victory and beyond that, still nothing is certain.

One more knockout round tomorrow before the 170,000 or so members get their say, what clues are there in the results and the briefings about what happens next?

Today told us three things, as the remaining teams battle it out tonight to ensure their candidate makes it to the final two.

What did we learn:

• Kemi Badenoch is explicitly pitching to the Tory right, suggesting she is making little effort to appeal to the bulk of Tom Tugendhat’s supporters who are mostly – though not exclusively – one-nation Conservatives. Tonight in a statement she demands “the right of the Conservative Party now needs to coalesce around Kemi” – this suggests she is still trying to nibble away at Robert Jenrick backers, even though she fell behind Jenrick today. This is a particularly bold strategy given some of the ERG (European Research Group) fell out with Ms Badenoch when Rishi Sunak was prime minister.

• Robert Jenrick is losing momentum. Rival camps are capitalising on a drop in support for Mr Jenrick, from 33 MP votes in the last round to 31 votes today. However, I was told by Jenrick supporters that he would get 35-40 votes today, suggesting that he has seriously underperformed expectations. It appears the conference has done him some damage – his speech appeared less well-received than others – costing him the top spot among MPs.

• Is James Cleverly so far out in front he dares to try and engineer Jenrick as his opponent in the final round? In the YouGov poll of Tory members taken before the conference speeches, Mr Jenrick was only four points ahead of Mr Cleverly, while Ms Badenoch was further in front. Given the margins between second and third place are so small, could he “lend” some votes to get an easier opponent over the line?

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Tugendhat out of Tory leadership race

YouGov polling revealed that among the general public, Tory MPs today ejected the most popular of the contenders for the crown – Mr Tugendhat, with Mr Cleverly and Mr Jenrick tied and Ms Badenoch the least popular.

But what do the all-important Tory members actually care about?

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Top of the list was the members’ desire for “integrity and honesty”, and second is “conservative values”. Only a tiny fraction – 2% – wanted “winning the election.”

This underlines why it remains far from clear what the outcome will be, wherever momentum may be tonight.

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No job for Tom Tugendhat in Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet as Chris Philp appointed shadow home secretary

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No job for Tom Tugendhat in Kemi Badenoch's shadow cabinet as Chris Philp appointed shadow home secretary

Tom Tugendhat is not serving in Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet, it has been revealed – as the new Tory leader continued her appointments today.

Former Home Office minister Chris Philp has been awarded the job of shadow home secretary, the last of the key posts to be announced.

A Conservative source told Sky News Mr Tugendhat was offered a job and turned it down.

Unveiling a host of appointments today, Ms Badenoch, who was elected leader of the Conservative Party last weekend, confirmed that Ed Argar would be the shadow health secretary, while James Cartlidge will take on the role of shadow defence secretary.

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Former business minister Kevin Hollinrake will shadow Angela Rayner on the housing brief, while Victoria Atkins will take on the role of shadow environment secretary.

Claire Coutinho, who was the energy secretary under Rishi Sunak, will continue in the opposition version of the role.

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Helen Whately has been appointed shadow work and pensions secretary and Andrew Griffith, the former economic secretary to the Treasury, is the new shadow business and trade secretary.

Ms Badenoch, who became Conservative leader on Saturday, started officially appointing her shadow cabinet on Sunday evening.

Yesterday Dame Priti Patel made a comeback to frontline politics after the new Conservative leader appointed her as shadow foreign secretary.

Former shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride, who ran in the Tory leadership race and is considered more of a moderate than Ms Badenoch, was also made shadow chancellor.

The move has been interpreted as Ms Badenoch making an effort to unite the party following its bruising election defeat, which saw it reduced to just 121 seats.

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Badenoch: ‘It is time to renew’

Robert Jenrick, who lost out to Ms Badenoch in the Tory leadership race, is the new shadow justice secretary, while Laura Trott, who previously served as chief secretary to the Treasury, was appointed shadow education secretary.

Now the Conservatives are in opposition, the shadow cabinet’s role is to scrutinise the policies and actions of the government and offer alternative policies.

Other roles that have been confirmed today include Stuart Andrew as shadow culture secretary, Gareth Bacon as shadow transport secretary, Andrew Bowie as shadow Scotland secretary, Alex Burghart as shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Mims Davies as shadow Wales secretary and shadow minister for women.

Former transport minister Jesse Norman has been appointed as shadow leader of the Commons while Richard Fuller is the new shadow chief secretary to the Treasury and Alan Mak is the new shadow science secretary.

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During the Conservative Party leadership race, Ms Badenoch suggested that all six MPs who ran against her for the top job – Mr Jenrick, Mr Tugendhat, Mr Stride, Ms Patel and James Cleverly – would be offered a job in her shadow cabinet.

Mr Cleverly, who came third in the leadership race, said on Friday he would not be joining Ms Badenoch’s top team.

It is understood Ms Badenoch will appoint the remainder of the team later in the week and on a rolling basis.

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Meet the pro-crypto contenders who could replace SEC chief Gary Gensler

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Meet the pro-crypto contenders who could replace SEC chief Gary Gensler

There are several new candidates who could potentially become the next chair of the SEC.

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University tuition fee rise branded ‘morally wrong’ – as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defends increase

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University tuition fee rise branded 'morally wrong' - as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defends increase

The education secretary has said no decision has been made on whether university tuition fees will increase with inflation each year.

Bridget Phillipson has announced the maximum cap on tuition fees in England will go up in line with inflation from April 2025.

The cost of tuition will increase by £285 to £9,535 next year – the first rise in eight years.

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There will also be a rise in maximum maintenance loans to increase in line with inflation, giving an increase of £414 a year to help students with living costs.

However, the education secretary did not say if the rise would continue after that.

Speaking to Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge, Ms Phillipson admitted she did not know what would happen with tuition fees after April 2026.

“We’re going to look at this and the maintenance support and the sector overall as part of the reform that we intend to set out in the months to come,” she said.

“So no decision, no decision has been taken on what happens beyond this.”

She said the government will be looking at “what is required… to get our universities on a more sustainable footing… but also to deliver a better deal for students as a part of that”.

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University tuition fees to increase

The minister said she also “intends to look at” uprating the threshold at which students need to start paying tuition fees back in line with inflation.

Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), said the tuition fee rise was “economically and morally wrong”.

She said: “Taking more money from debt-ridden students and handing it to overpaid underperforming vice-chancellors is ill conceived and won’t come close to addressing the sector’s core issues.”

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The National Union of Students (NUS) said students were being asked to “foot the bill” to keep the lights and heating on in their universities and to prevent their courses from closing down amid the “crisis”.

Alex Stanley, vice president for higher education of the NUS, said: “This is, and can only ever be, a sticking plaster.

“Universities cannot continue to be funded by an ever-increasing burden of debt on students.”

Universities have been making up for fees being frozen since 2017/18 by taking in international students who pay more.

However, student visa numbers have fallen after the previous government made it more difficult for them to come to the UK recently, so universities can no longer rely on the fees.

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