Tory leadership race: James Cleverly knocked out – leaving Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch in final two
Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch will battle it out to be the next leader of the Conservative Party after James Cleverly was eliminated from the race.
Tory MPs held a final vote on Wednesday to reduce the field to a final two, who will then go to a ballot of Conservative members.
After picking up 42 votes in the final round of voting, Ms Badenoch re-established herself as the favourite after lagging behind in previous rounds.
Robert Jenrick, her close rival on the right, picked up one vote shy of Ms Badenoch, while Mr Cleverly – who was seen as a unifying candidate – won the backing of 37 MPs.
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The selection of Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick means the Conservative Party is heading towards the right and that immigration – and the UK’s membership of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – will be at the top of the agenda.
Mr Jenrick said he was “delighted to have got so much support from parliamentary colleagues today”.
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James Cleverly eliminated in Tory race
He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge he believed his message of fixing the NHS, growing the economy and reducing immigration had struck a chord with MPs.
“On each of these areas, I’ve got a real plan,” he said.
“I don’t trade in platitudes. I have a plan as to how we provide serious, competent leadership for our party and ultimately for our country.”
This contest could become unpleasant quite quickly
The Conservative leadership contest is no longer a battle for the direction of the party.
By picking Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, this has pivoted from a contest about the future direction of the party to one that turns on two different visions of a Tory future on the right of British politics.
The ejection of James Cleverly – who was frontrunner just yesterday – stunned the party. Nobody has yet admitted to whether his defeat took place because of a miscalculation over vote lending.
However people saw Cleverly on the terrace and later for a time at the Boris Johnson book launch – a period the other campaign were hitting the phones to firm up support.
It is still too close to call who will win between Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick as they go through to the final round and submit themselves to the judgement of 170,000 Tory members.
However, Ms Badenoch now appears to have the edge.
The last Tory members poll for YouGov by Sky News puts her four percentage points ahead of her rival in a head to head contest – not much more than the margin of error, but this was taken before her well-received conference speech.
In the final round of voting she was suddenly out in front amongst MPs – when the suggestion had been that they might try and keep her off the ballot.
This puts to bed the suggestion that too many MPs worry that her regular incendiary and unpredictable comments bar her from the top job.
Mr Jenrick will now want this race to turn on immigration .
Team Jenrick say he wants to leave ECHR and she “wants to remain” and that his opponent wants to leave.
Team Badenoch says that misrepresents her – her more nuanced position is that she is willing to leave if necessary, but only after a review.
Other clear dividing lines are yet to emerge, however. The risk that a contest based around personalities becomes quite personal – and unpleasant – quite quickly.
It is not a contest anyone could have predicted.
Ms Badenoch said the reason she had performed the best in the final round of voting was because “people have a lot of faith in my approach”…that you start with principles first and then policy”.
Mr Cleverly’s elimination from the race came as a surprise after he rallied in the previous round of voting following what was considered to be a strong performance at the Conservative Party conference.
Kemi Badenoch has established herself as the frontrunner after lagging behind in previous rounds.
Political reporter Alix Culbertson, who was in the room as the result was announced, said “disbelief resounded around the room” after it was confirmed the former home secretary would not be in the final two.
Following the result Mr Cleverly posted on X: “I’m grateful for the support I’ve received on this campaign from colleagues, party members and the public.
“Sadly it wasn’t to be. We are all Conservatives, and it’s important the Conservative Party unites to take on this catastrophic Labour government.”
It came after Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister who was running from the centrist wing of the party, was knocked out of the race after receiving the least votes from MPs on Tuesday.
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The result marks a comeback for Ms Badenoch, who while starting as the favourite in the early stages of the contest, was later pursued by Mr Jenrick who overtook her in the first, second and third MPs’ ballot.
Both candidates faced criticism for comments they made during the party conference.
Mr Jenrick claimed the SAS was being forced to kill rather than capture terrorists because the “European Court will set them free”, something many of his colleagues disputed.
Former business secretary Ms Badenoch was forced to backtrack over comments she made about “excessive” maternity pay and civil servants being jailed.
Britain’s membership of the ECHR is likely to be at the forefront at the debate between the two frontrunners, with Mr Jenrick – who has already challenged his rival to a debate – advocating that the UK leave the convention.
Ms Badenoch’s position is that she wants a review of the ECHR and would be willing to leave it if necessary.
Asked whether the race was likely to get “dirty” and if he could guarantee a “clean contest”, Mr Jenrick told Sophy Ridge: “That’s the way I fought this campaign now for three months.
Robert Jenrick has made leaving the ECHR central to his campaign.
“I’m a collegiate person, but I also want to provide direction for this party,” he said. “We need to be more Conservative. We need to ensure that we occupy that common ground of British politics once more.”
On the issue of the ECHR, Ms Badenoch said making it the sole focus of the debate would be a mistake.
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“What I talked about in my conference speech and when I launched my campaign is we need to talk about everything,” she told reporters in Westminster.
“It can’t just be about one little part of immigration policy – we need to lower immigration, that’s part of the story, but just talking about the ECHR is going to shut down the conversation that we need to have with the entire country.”
The party membership vote will close at 5pm on Thursday 31 October. The winner, who will become leader of the party and the Opposition to the Labour government, will be announced on Saturday 2 November.
Toncoin Open Interest (OI) has jumped 67% over the past 24 hours amid reports of Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s departure from France, where he had been required to stay since his arrest seven months ago.
On March 15, Toncoin (TON) OI — a metric tracking the total number of unsettled Toncoin derivative contracts such as options and futures — reached $169 million, representing a 67% increase from the previous day when the reports of Durov’s departure first surfaced, according to CoinGlass data.
Toncoin open interest reaches highest level in 42 days
It is the highest level of OI in Toncoin since Feb. 1, when it was sitting at $171.49 million.
TON is The Open Network’s native cryptocurrency and is the exclusive blockchain infrastructure for Telegram’s Mini App ecosystem.
Toncoin open interest surged 67% on March 15. Source: CoinGlass
TON’s price jumped 17% over the same 24-hour period, trading at $3.45 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Trading resource account Crypto Billion said in a March 15 X post that Toncoin is “showing signs of a potential long-term accumulation phase as it stabilizes near key support levels.”
However, if this rally is short-lived, around $18.8 million in long positions could be liquidated if TON’s price falls back toward the $3 level it was trading at on March 14.
Toncoin open interest also surged after arrest in 2024
The court reportedly allowed Durov to travel to Dubai, a city with no extradition agreements with many countries.
The market’s reaction hints at the potential significance of this case for the crypto industry. Many are worried that Durov’s arrest in August 2024 in France could set a precedent for cracking down on other privacy-focused services. He was accused of running a platform that enables illicit transactions.
Related: Bitget predicts TON ‘de-Telegramization’ in the next 2 year
Similarly, when Durov was arrested in August 2024, TON’s OI also surged.
Following the news of Durov’s arrest on Aug. 24, 2024, TON’s OI spiked 32% over the following 24 hours, alongside its price falling almost 12%.
On Jan. 21, Telegram announced it would cease support for all blockchains other than The Open Network for its messenger services.
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Politics
Planned freeze to PIP disability benefits set to be scrapped but eligibility criteria could be tighened, say reports
Proposals to freeze some disability benefits are reportedly being scrapped after concerns from Labour politicians about the scale of planned welfare cuts.
The work and pensions secretary had been under pressure to cut the benefits bill and was expected to cancel an inflation-linked rise to the personal independence payment (PIP).
But it is reported those plans will be ditched by Liz Kendall, despite the Chancellor Rachel Reeves insisting “we do need to get a grip” on the welfare budget, saying the “current system is not working for anyone”.
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Welfare system ‘letting people down’
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Reforms to the welfare system are expected to be announced this week, ahead of the spring statement on 26 March.
Explainer: Where could welfare cuts be made?
Some MPs fear drastic cuts to support for the most vulnerable, but Ms Kendall may have attempted to partly address concerns from cabinet colleagues and Labour backbenchers about the scale of the reforms.
Almost four million working-age adults in England and Wales currently claim incapacity or disability benefits, up from 2.8 million before the pandemic.
It is being widely reported that instead of scrapping a rise in PIP, savings could be achieved by changing the eligibility criteria along with cutting the top rate of incapacity benefit.
Ms Kendall told The Sunday Times it was an “absolute principle” to protect welfare payments for people unable to work. “For those who absolutely cannot work, this is not about that,” she said.
She said the number of people on PIP is set to more than double this decade, partly driven by younger people.
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‘Government’s plan to cut welfare is terrifying’
“Increasingly, there is lots of clear evidence that work is good for mental health and physical health too… social security alone for many people will never be the key to a better life. It should be a springboard and not trapping people,” she told the newspaper.
Ms Kendall has revealed plans to give disabled people the right to try employment without the risk of losing their benefits.
The so-called “right to try guarantee” aims to prevent those people who receive health-related benefits from having their entitlements automatically re-assessed if they enter employment.
The Observer said the details are due to be announced as part of a green paper on Tuesday.
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Research published in February by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed the number of 16 to 34 year-olds who are long-term sick with a mental health condition has reached 270,000, increasing by 60,000 (26%) in the last year alone.
Some on benefits ‘taking the mickey’
The figure for all working-age people is 790,000, an increase of 140,000 (22%) over the last year.
Responding at the time to those figures, Ms Kendall said some people on benefits were “taking the mickey”.
“I have no doubt, as there always have been, there are people who shouldn’t be on those benefits who are taking the mickey and that is not good enough – we have to end that,” she told ITV News.
The same survey found 200,000 people receiving health-related or disability benefits were ready to work if the right job or support was available.
Welfare cuts are supported by the Conservatives, albeit the party has accused Labour of “dithering, delay and division” on the issue.
Meanwhile, the SNP argues any planned cuts to disability payments should be “abandoned”, and disability charities have expressed a similar view.
Sky News’ Trevor Phillips will be looking at all the political headlines this week from 8.30am this morning. He will be joined by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, shadow education secretary Laura Trott and former national security adviser Lord Ricketts.
Politics
The two big unknowns left up in the air after Starmer’s ‘coalition of the willing’ Ukraine summit
There was one clear, united message from today’s virtual meeting of leaders – that they rejected Vladimir Putin’s “yes, but” approach to a ceasefire.
The “coalition of the willing” – the 27 leaders, plus NATO and the EU led by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron – want the Russian president to mirror Ukraine’s pledge for a 30-day pause in fighting, in order to hammer out a sustainable peace deal.
Sir Keir made that very clear, and suggested the attendees at the meeting were behind this approach.
Ukraine war latest: Putin’s ceasefire conditions ‘not good enough’
The prime minister said: “Volodymyr [Zelenskyy] has committed to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, but Mr Putin is trying to delay, saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place.
“Well, the world needs action, not a study, not empty words and conditions. So my message is very clear. Sooner or later, Putin will have to come to the table.”
‘Coalition of the willing’. Pic: Downing Street
There are two reasons for this challenge – an immediate end to fighting is a goal in itself, but many of those in today’s call, including Sir Keir, do not trust Mr Putin to uphold promises on peace and are trying to convince US President Donald Trump to be more clear-eyed about the Russian approach.
Challenging the Russian leader to follow the US request for a ceasefire and watching him refuse is designed to send a message to the White House as well as the Kremlin.
There were, however, bigger unknowns left hanging.
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One of which was the clear signal from Sir Keir that he is still relying on a US security guarantee in order to bring on board a “coalition of the willing” who might be able to provide troops to Ukraine.
There are, however, many that don’t think that that US security guarantee is coming in any substantial way, based on the noises coming out of the US.
That is a big problem for the PM, as government sources tell me that the scope and the remit of any potential peacekeeping force is determined by what protection the US might be able to provide.
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The second issue that is being sidestepped by Sir Keir is what any peace keeping might be able to do in practice.
UK troops, like those of any NATO country, cannot engage directly with Russia in combat for fear of triggering a much bigger conflagration.
So if not that, then what is their purpose – a question repeatedly asked by experts like the former national security adviser Lord Ricketts.
I put exactly this to the PM, but did not get an answer. He suggested that we were a long way away from getting an an answer, even though military chiefs also appear to be meeting to “operationalise” plans on Thursday.
How can they operationalise a plan that does not, and currently cannot, have a remit?
Today Sir Keir heralded the participation of Canada, Australia and New Zealand on the call, as part of the effort.
But if the remit of the coalition of the willing isn’t clear, how can it truly be effective?
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