Tory leadership race: Cleverly out after ‘one of the biggest own goals in history’
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Something has gone “massively” wrong for James Cleverly after he was knocked out of the Tory leadership race in the final round voting strictly for MPs. But will Conservative Party members elect Robert Jenrick or Kemi Badenoch as their next leader?
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Read time: 4 minutes
In brief…
- The final two have been chosen by Tory MPs. Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch remain after James Cleverly suffered a shock defeat.
- Conservative Party members will cast their votes in the final voting round later this month to decide the winner.
- The News Agents says Cleverly’s team made a massive miscalculation, and now the candidate Labour feared most is gone.
What’s the story?
Just two candidates now remain in the Conservative Party leadership race. But not the man expected to breeze into the final round.
Kemi Badenoch came out on top, with 42 votes, up 12 from Tuesday. Robert Jenrick got the second most votes, receiving the backing of 41 MPs, up 10 from the previous day.
Jame Cleverly received 37 votes and is now out of the race.
It comes as a surprise as Cleverly had appeared to emerge a frontrunner on Tuesday, receiving 39 votes - 8 more than Jenrick and 9 more than Badenoch.
It seemed, therefore, as though the tight battle would be between Jenrick and Badenoch for the second spot. But now, that contest will drag on into the final round.
What do we know about the remaining candidates? And what’s still to come?
Who is Robert Jenrick?
The former immigration minister has positioned himself firmly on the Conservative right-wing.
He was a big advocate of the last government’s Rwanda plan, quitting his role when Sunak refused to upend the British courts and breach international law to push through emergency legislation that declared Rwanda ‘safe’.
Now, he is calling for Britain to leave the European Convention of Human Rights, blaming the international pact and court for a range of the UK’s domestic problems.
He wrote above his campaign video on X: “Do you want to deport foreign criminals, get terrorists off our streets, and end illegal migration?
“Then we must leave the ECHR.
”While he was previously viewed as the frontrunner, he may have damaged his chances by making a controversial claim.
He said: "Our special forces are killing, rather than capturing terrorists because our lawyers tell us if they are caught the European Court will set them free."
Who is Kemi Badenoch?
Kemi Badenoch is a right-wing candidate who has earned something of a reputation for making bold statements, often involving attacks on woke culture.
Emily has described the former business secretary as someone who “prides herself on being this straight talking woman shooting from the hip”.
She put free market values at the centre of her leadership pitch, saying capitalism is not a “dirty word”. Badenoch has also called for less state intervention and has said that “sovereignty” and upholding Brexit are core issues.
She first entered the race as a strong candidate who is popular among the party membership. But Badenoch may have damaged her chances of becoming leader when she said the current level of statutory maternity pay has “gone too far”.
What happens next?
Party members will decide on the winner and can cast their votes between 15 October and 31 October. The new Conservative leader will be revealed on 2 November.
What’s The News Agents take?
Everyone has been left “a bit speechless” in The News Agents studio.
“I think what the Cleverly campaign has done is screwed up massively,” says Lewis.
Emily asks whether Cleverly’s team convinced some of his supporters to vote for Jenrick in order to knock Badenoch out of the race. But it appears he may have overestimated the number of MPs backing him.
Lewis says: “They miscalculated. They did not count how many supporters they actually had.
”What this shows, Lewis says, is that because the Conservative Party has been reduced to such small numbers, the ”smallest parliamentary grouping they've ever had”, tiny miscalculations in the numbers can produce these “freak, odd results.”
Now, “the candidate who Labour most feared is gone”, Lewis says, adding the Tories have scored “one of the biggest own goals in the history of British politics.”
He adds: “The people who will be most pleased about this result right now is Number 10 Downing Street - the best news they've had probably since they came to office."
Jon says what we are seeing is remarkable given we are coming off the back of a Conservative Party Conference “where it was commonly accepted that James Cleverly had “far and away” the best conference.
Listen in full on The News Agents.
