toryleadershipelection

Who won the first Tory leadership debate

The first Tory leadership debate took place on live television on Friday evening. Hosted by journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy and broadcast on Channel 4, with streaming on All4, the event was watched by 7.4 million viewers.

Here’s how the papers ranked the winners and losers of the debate.

WinnerLoser
The IndependentTom Tugendhat
Daily MailTom Tugendhat
The New StatesmanRishi SunakLiz Truss
The TelegraphRishi Sunak
The GuardianTom Tugendhat
The SpectatorTom Tugendhat / Rishi Sunak
The ExpressTom Tugendhat

Bookie’s favourite at this stage is Penny Mordaunt

Bookie's odds graphic - source William Hill (17-7-2022 10am)

Tory leadership TV debates

Channel 4 will host the first live television debate for candidates aiming to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and the country’s next Prime Minister, followed by ITV and then Sky.

Britain’s Next PM: The Conservative Leadership Debate will air on Channel 4 on Friday 15th July 2022 at 7pm GMT.

The debate will also be available to watch live on All4 and then on catch-up.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy hosts the debate with the candidates who are still in the running for the top job, facing questions from a studio audience of floating voters.

The Conservative leadership debate will air on ITV on Sunday 17th July 2022 at 7pm GMT.

The show will be available to watch live on ITV Hub and then on the streamer’s catch-up service following its airing.

The debate will be recorded at ITV’s White City Studios.

The channel previously aired a similar debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt when they were competing for Conservative Party leader in 2019.

The Conservative leadership debate will air on Sky News on Monday 18th July 2022.

The event will also be made available across Sky News’ digital channels and will be streamed on YouTube.

The debate will take place at the Sky News studios in West London and be presented by Kay Burley with questions from a virtual studio audience.

Eliminated in Second Round

Suella Braverman MP
Suella Braverman MP

Suella Braverman has been eliminated in the second round of voting by MPs after receiving the fewest votes. She polled 27 votes, with the next lowest candidate, Tom Tugendhat, receiving 32 votes.

Second Round Results

The results of the second round of voting have been released at 3pm on 14 July 2022.

Rishi Sunak MP
Rishi Sunak MP
Penny Mordaunt MP
Penny Mordaunt MP
Liz Truss MP
Liz Truss MP
Kemi Badenoch MP
Kemi Badenoch MP
Tom Tugendhat MP
Tom Tugendhat MP

The voting results are

  • Rishi Sunak – 101 votes
  • Penny Mordaunt – 83 votes
  • Liz Truss – 64 votes
  • Kemi Badenoch – 49 votes
  • Tom Tugendhat – 32 votes
  • Suella Braverman – 27 votes

Suella Braverman has been eliminated.

Penny Mordaunt MP

Penny Mordaunt Favourite with Party Members

With nominations now in, Penny Mordaunt leads the field among Conservative members

Pairing off the candidates in head to head contests – as will happen at the final members’ vote – shows Mordaunt beating all comers.

Her closest competitor is Liz Truss, who she nevertheless convincingly beats by 55% to 37%. She likewise firmly sees off Kemi Badenoch by 59% to 30%, and Rishi Sunak by 67% to 28%.

Attribution: Data from Yougov.co.uk

Eliminated in First Round

Nadhim Zahawi MP
Nadhim Zahawi MP
Jeremy Hunt MP
Jeremy Hunt MP

Candidates needed at least 30 MPs to support them to progress to a second round – neither Jeremy Hunt nor Nadhim Zahawi managed this.

  • Nadhim Zahawi 25 Votes
  • Jeremy Hunt 18 Votes

First Round Results

Results are in from the first round of voting.

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has secured the most votes from Tory MPs after the first round of voting.

The remaining candidates left in the leadership contest are:

  • Rishi Sunak – 88 votes
  • Penny Mordaunt – 67 votes
  • Liz Truss – 50 votes
  • Kemi Badenoch – 40 votes
  • Tom Tugendhat – 37 votes
  • Suella Braverman – 32 votes

Eliminated: Nadhim Zahawi and Jeremy Hunt

Rishi Sunak MP
Rishi Sunak MP
Penny Mordaunt MP
Penny Mordaunt MP
Liz Truss MP
Liz Truss MP
Kemi Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch MP
Tom Tugendhat MP
Tom Tugendhat MP
Suella Braverman MP
Suella Braverman MP

Also Rans

Grant Shapps MP
Grant Shapps MP
Rehman Chishti MP
Rehman Chishti MP
Sajid Javid MP
Sajid Javid MP

The following MPs announced that they would seek the leadership of the Conservative Party but subsequently did not stand, or withdrew from the race, due to insufficient support or other reasons:

Rules

Nominations will open and close on Tuesday 12 July, followed by a vote by MPs on Wednesday and a second on Thursday to whittle down the contenders to the final two – before the vote opens up to the membership and hustings begin. 

Hopefuls will need to get at least 30 votes to make it into the second round. 

Round 1 – the Candidates

8 initial candidates
8 initial candidates

The eight candidates taking part in the contest are: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, current Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, Tom Tugendhat, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch.