James Cleverly has momentum after latest voting in Tory leadership contest – but final result far from clear
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 born 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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YouGov’s AI Topic Quantifier got Tory members to say what qualities they wanted in a leader.
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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
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.
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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