Latest news and betting on the race to be next leader of the Conservative party

Final MP ballot result

Either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt will be the next leader of the Conservative party.

Hunt pipped Michael Gove by just two votes, 77-75, in the final ballot of Tory MPs but bookmakers consider him the 8-1 outsider in the final run-off - party members with vote on their choice of the final two with the winner announced in the week of July 22.

Johnson was 1-12 favourite and as short as 1-16 but he was eased to 1-9 on Friday.

Fourth ballot result

Sajid Javid was eliminated from the Conservative leadership race after finishing last in Thursday's fourth ballot of Tory MPs.

Favourite Boris Johnson topped the polls again with 157 votes but there were only two votes between new second-placed contender Michael Gove (61) and Jeremy Hunt (59).

Johnson is 1-12 favourite to get the job with Hunt 16-1 and Gove 20-1.

Third ballot result

Rory Stewart was eliminated from the Conservative leadership race after finishing last in Wednesday's third ballot of Tory MPs.

Stewart, an outsider at the outset, had been the second favourite just the day before.

Favourite Boris Johnson topped the polls again with 143 votes. Jeremy Hunt was second on 54, Michael Gove third on 51 and Sajid Javid managed 38, 11 more than Stewart, who lost ten supporters from the day before. Johnson was cut to 1-8 immediately after the vote.

Second ballot result

Dominic Raab was eliminated from the race to be the next Conservative leader after Tuesday's second ballot.

Boris Johnson topped the poll again with 126 votes. Jeremy Hunt was second on 46, Michael Gove third on 41 and Rory Stewart moved up to fourth place with 37. Sajid Javid just scraped through with 33 votes, with Raab last on 30.

Johnson remained the hot favourite to get the job, although Betfred eased his price slightly to 1-5. Stewart was the 8-1 second favourite with Hunt at 16-1.

The final two:

Boris Johnson Next Conservative leader odds 1-9

The MP for Uxbridge and Ruislip, 54-year-old Johnson was Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016 and Foreign Secretary from 2016-2018.
He resigned in July 2018 in protest at the Brexit strategy decided on at a meeting at Chequers.

Never far from controversy, Johnson is believed to have strong support from Tory members. He was 6-4 favourite straight after Theresa May's statement, but was odds-on everywhere by the next day.

Getting the backing of US President Donald Trump can probably be termed a mixed blessing and his odds drifted right out to 9-4.

He has been keeping a relatively low profile in the early stages of the campaign, with supporters hoping he can avoid any trademark gaffes. His early policy proposals include cutting taxes for high-earners.

A convincing winner of the first ballot of Tory MPs, he was slashed to as short as 1-5 and looks a certainty to be in the final two. He was the only candidate not to attend the Channel 4 TV debate and also opted out of a Q&A session with Westminster journalists.

Jeremy Hunt 9-1

The 52-year-old Foreign Secretary is MP for South West Surrey. His strength in the contest could be as a compromise candidate with many of the others having just as many enemies as friends. He was a Remain backer at the EU election and has supported May's deal, so could struggle to gain support from the more Brexit-minded Tory members. Star Sports reported laying a £3,000 bet on Hunt at 16-1 and he secured some notable support from cabinet colleagues.

His comments about changes to abortion laws attracted criticism, although he has already backtracked on that front.

Critics claim he is too similar in outlook to outgoing PM Theresa May. He was second in the first two rounds of MP voting but a long way behind Johnson. He dropped to third in Thursday's fourth ballot but got back ahead of Michael Gove in the decisive MPs vote.

Eliminated after first ballot: Andrea Leadsom, Mark Harper, Esther McVey.
Withdrew before second ballot: Matthew Hancock.
Eliminated after second ballot: Dominic Raab.
Eliminated after third ballot: Rory Stewart.
Eliminated after fourth ballot: Sajid Javid.
Eliminated after fifth ballot: Michael Gove.

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