Tory leadership debate - live: Boris Johnson challenged on ‘letterbox’ comments, as candidates quizzed on Brexit, tax cuts and climate change
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Your support makes all the difference.The remaining Tory leadership candidates have clashed over Brexit, tax cuts and public spending during a heated televised debate that saw Boris Johnson go head-to-head with his rivals for the first time.
The five contenders put forward different plans on Brexit, with Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt saying they would be willing to delay Britain's departure from the EU in order to secure a deal, while Mr Johnson and Sajid Javid said they would not. Rory Stewart promised never to allow a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Stewart also attacked his rivals for making promises he said they could not deliver, including on tax cuts. But they returned fire, with Mr Gove pushing him on his plan for public services.
Mr Johnson apologised for the offence caused by his previous comments about Muslim women but insisted they had been unfairly “escalated”, while Mr Hunt defended saying he agreed with the “sentiment” of Donald Trump's tweets about Sadiq Khan.
The debate followed the second round of voting by Tory MPs, which resulted in Dominic Raab being eliminated after failing to meet the threshold of 33 votes. Mr Johnson maintained a huge lead and Mr Stewart also increased his support, but Mr Javid only narrowly scraped through to Wednesday's third round.
See how the day unfolded below:
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We're expecting the result of the latest ballot of Conservative MPs at around 6pm, and all eyes will be on whether Rory Stewart makes it through to the next round. But who is the outsider who has taken the Tory leadership race by storm?
Former minister Greg Hands, who is backing Jeremy Hunt for leader, is confused by Rory Stewart's way of holding his beer...
MPs and journalists are starting to fill the House of Commons committee room where the result of today's ballot of Tory MPs will be announced around 6pm. We're in the room and will be bringing you the result as soon as it is confirmed, so don't go anywhere.
The returning officers have just entered the Commons committee room where the result of today's vote will be announced...
BREAKING - The result of the latest round of voting by Tory MPs is:
Michael Gove - 41
Jeremy Hunt - 46
Sajid Javid - 33
Boris Johnson - 126
Dominic Raab - 30
Rory Stewart - 37
Rory Stewart will be delighted to have picked up 18 new votes, allowing him to progress to the next round. The result is also a major relief for Sajid Javid, who scrapes through by just one vote.
The losers are Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt who, despite progressing, have barely increased their totals. Boris Johnson, meanwhile, retains a commanding lead but will now have to go head-to-head with Mr Stewart in the live BBC hustings later this evening....
There will be pressure on Sajid Javid to quit following tonight's result, with the home secretary only just scraping over the threshold of 33 votes that was needed to stay in the contest. Mr Javid has been overtaken by Rory Stewart, who will now be confident of progressing beyond tomorrow night's third round of vote and therefore making the final four. If he does that, anything could happen - the outsider is only slightly behind Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt and is likely to receive support from at least some of Mr Javid's backers....
Full story: Boris Johnson tops Tory leadership ballot as Dominic Raab is eliminated
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