Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt final two as MPs edge closer to Downing Street - as it happened
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Your support makes all the difference.Jeremy Hunt narrowly beat Michael Gove in the final ballot of Tory MPs, and will now go head-to-head with Boris Johnson in the run-off.
Mr Hunt, the foreign secretary, won 77 votes to Mr Gove's 75, while Mr Johnson maintained a commanding lead and finished with 160 votes.
Sajid Javid was eliminated from the race earlier in the day, but declined to endorse any of the other candidates.
As it happened...
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Tory MPs are as unclear as the rest of us about the likely outcome of the latest ballot.
MPs are renowned for saying one thing and doing another in secret ballots, so the even the candidates and their teams cannot be sure that people who have pledged their support will actually follow through and vote the way they promised to.
There are also lots of rumours in Westminster about tactical voting - the suggestion being that Boris Johnson's team is encouraging some of its supporters to back Jeremy Hunt in an attempt to keep Michael Gove off the ballot.
Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, has just been in to cast his vote. He is backing Jeremy Hunt.
He says he is worried about a run-off between Boris Johnson and Michael Gove because "it would be a fairly odd dynamic to have two ex-journalists fighting for the premiership of the country".
He says the contest should "showcase the best of the Conservative Party" and urges the candidates to offer a vision "of where the country could be, not just where it is".
David Lidington, the current deputy prime minister, refuses to say who he has voted for, saying: "There is a limit even to my openness".
He says there needs to a "proper debate" in the next stage of the contest because the Conservative Party is facing "existential threats" and the union is at greater risk than any time in his lifetime.
He says candidates should not "pull their punches" but urges them to focus on policy rather than each other.
Here are the full quotes from David Lidington, the deputy prime minister, speaking to journalists after casting his vote:
"I think party members deserve a proper debate about the challenges that face the country and the Conservative Party.
Clearly Brexit is going to be a key issue but I really hope that the candidates do look beyond that. You have to think back to 1992 since the Conservative Party last won a clear overall majority. If you're going by age group, you have to get to 51-year-olds before you find more people willing to vote Conservative than Lab. In 2017 we went backwards among BME voters, who are an important part of the electorate in many constituencies in the suburbs and small towns.
The Tory party is facing some existential political challenges and the union of the United Kingdom is under greater strain than I've ever known it in my lifetime...so I think the candidates show they are up for addressing those challenges."
We're about half an hour away from finding out whether Michael Gove or Jeremy Hunt will face Boris Johnson in the second stage of the Tory leadership contest. We'll be in the room for the announcement - so don't go anywhere!
MPs are beginning to file into the Commons committee room where the result of the final ballot of Tory MPs is due to be announced in around five minutes... None of the candidates are here, but Dominic Raab, Chris Grayling and James Cleverly have just arrived as tension builds ahead of the result.
BREAKING: Jeremy Hunt will take on Boris Johnson in the next stage of the Tory leadership contest.
He has beaten Michael Gove by two votes. If just one MP had voted the other way, there would have been a tie between the two.
The final tally:
Boris Johnson - 160
Jeremy Hunt - 77
Michael Gove - 75
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