Three contenders eliminated from the Tory Leadership contest with Boris Johnson gaining most votes

Thursday 13 June at 5:02pm

Mark Harper, Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom are the first Conservative leadership contenders to be eliminated from the race for Number 10 after failing to secure enough votes in the first ballot of Tory MPs.

The first of in a series of secret ballots was held by Conservative MPs today, which required candidates to secure at least 17 votes.

There were 313 votes cast. Boris Johnson is the frontrunner with the highest number of votes in the first ballot for the next Conservative party leader and Prime Minister.

Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom and Mark Harper have failed to make it through to the second ballot

The full breakdown of the first ballot was:

Michael Gove 37Matt Hancock 20Mark Harper 10Jeremy Hunt 43Sajid Javid 23Boris Johnson 114Andrea Leadsom 11Esther McVey 9Dominic Raab 27Rory Stewart 19

Boris Johnson secured his place as the favourite to become the next PM

The remaining candidates - Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Matt Hancock, Sajid Javid and Rory Stewart - will face the second ballot next Tuesday, when they will need at least 33 votes to go through. If all the candidates get at least 33 votes, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated.

Timetable of the Tory leadership contest. Credit: PA