Mel Stride eliminated from Tory leadership contest after second round of voting

Mel Stride has been eliminated from the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party after receiving the least support in the second round of voting.

Tuesday's vote was contested between five candidates.

Stride was eliminated with 16 votes, and becomes the second candidate after Priti Patel to knocked out of the leadership contest.

Former housing minister Robert Jenrick, as he did in the first round of voting, won the most support - 33 votes - while Kemi Badenoch finished in second place with 28 votes.

Third spot was shared between former foreign secretary James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat, who both received 21 votes.

The remaining four candidates will now put forward their leadership pitches at the Tory party conference, which is taking place between Sunday, September 29 and Wednesday, October 2.

Cleverly and Tugendhat both paid tribute to the campaign run by Stride, with the former saying he would "play a big part in our party's future".

Tugendhat said: "You've shown our party has the economic vision and ideas that we need to win.

"Your campaign is one that all Conservatives can be proud of."

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning

Have you heard our new podcast Talking Politics? Tom, Robert and Anushka dig into the biggest issues dominating the political agenda in every episode…