Former Home Secretary Priti Patel has been the first to be eliminated among the six candidates vying to succeed former premier Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party. Patel only managed to secure 14 votes and ended up last in the first internal vote by Tory MPs, in which former Immigration Secretary Robert Jenrick emerged victorious (28 votes), ahead of the previously favored candidate, former Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch (22).
The first two are competing for the support of the hardline faction, while the unity candidate, former Home and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, is in third place (21 votes), ahead of the also moderate Tom Tugendhat (17) and veteran Mel Stride (16).
Priti Patel's defeat, the true architect of the Rwanda plan to deport immigrants, is a clear indication of the waning support for what was considered the darling of the party's hardline faction. Boris Johnson revived her career in 2019 despite having resigned two years earlier as International Trade Secretary for breaching the ministerial code and holding meetings with representatives of the Israeli government behind then-premier Theresa May's back.
The low turnout of Conservative MPs reflects the lack of enthusiasm at this stage in the Tory leadership race, following the setback suffered by Rishi Sunak and the Labour Party's Keir Starmer securing an absolute majority in the elections on July 4.
Another vote, scheduled for next Tuesday, will eliminate a second candidate and leave the field with four contenders, who will present their platforms at the Conservative Party's national conference in Birmingham at the end of September.
Another vote among MPs on October 10 will narrow down the final two candidates. The 170,000 Conservative members will have the final say with the definitive vote starting from October 15. The successor to Rishi Sunak, who will continue to serve as the opposition leader until then, will be announced on November 2.