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Robert Jenrick has won the first ballot in the race to take over from Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party.
Mr Jenrick has sought to centre his campaign on immigration, with a promise to introduce a binding cap on the number of legal migrants and to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
An announcement on the result of the first round came at 3.30pm. Mr Jenrick received 28 votes and closely behind him was bookmaker’s favourite Kemi Badenoch on 22.
Dame Priti Patel has been eliminated in the first voting round of the contest.
After the first ballot MPs will carry out further rounds of voting to select two final candidates for party members to choose between, with the result announced on 2 November.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Sunak clashed over Labour’s decision to cut winter fuel payments at the first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) since MPs returned from summer recess.
Mr Sunak said the prime minister has chosen to take “winter fuel allowance away from low-income pensioners” and offered train drivers a pay rise.
Sir Keir responded that Labour was forced “to clear up the mess left by the party opposite.”
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Priti Patel urges Tories to ‘unite around Conservative values’ after being knocked out of leadership contest
Dame Priti Patel has urged fellow Tories to “unite around our Conservative values” after being knocked out in the first round of the party’s leadership contest.
On X, formerly twitter, Dame Priti wrote: “I’ve enjoyed spending the summer with thousands of so many of our dedicated and hardworking party members.
“The support and affection they have shown me over the summer has been heartwarming and truly humbling, and I am grateful to everyone who has supported, worked on or volunteered for my campaign.
“I have placed party reform at the heart of my pitch for the leadership of the Conservative and Unionist Party and did that for a reason.”
After paying tribute to Tory members, councillors and association officers as “the heart and soul of our party”, and insisting the party must grow its membership and reach a younger voter base, the senior Conservative MP said: “I wish my fellow candidates well with the rest of the leadership campaign and thank them for the good-spirited debated we have had.
“To win back the trust of the British people we must unite around our Conservative values and show how they can offer solutions to the challenges our country faces.”
Jabed Ahmed4 September 2024 18:36 1725471046VOICES: My love-in with Labour is already over after two months – here’s why
If Angela Rayner scraps the single-person council tax discount, it will ruin millions of people like me, says Clair Woodward
My love-in with Labour is already over after two months – here’s why
If Angela Rayner scraps the single-person council tax discount, it will ruin millions of people like me, says Clair Woodward
Joe Middleton4 September 2024 18:30 1725470950COMMENT: Priti Patel’s fate proves Boris is a busted flush with the Tories
The Prittster’s surprise ejection from the leadership content – and in the first round – consigns the former prime minister who appointed her home secretary to the history books, says John Rentoul
Priti Patel’s fate proves Boris is a busted flush with the Tories
The Prittster’s surprise ejection from the leadership content – and in the first round – consigns the former prime minister who appointed her home secretary to the history books, says John Rentoul
Jabed Ahmed4 September 2024 18:29 1725470085Watch: Keir Starmer calls Rishi Sunak ‘prime minister’ after two months in power
Sixty days of Starmer: How has the Labour leader done in his first two months in power?
Sixty days of Starmer: How has the Labour leader fared in his first two months?
Two months on from Labour’s massive election victory, have they delivered on their pledges?
Jabed Ahmed4 September 2024 18:00 1725467685Full report: Robert Jenrick in pole position to be next Tory leader as Priti Patel eliminated in first round of voting
The Independent’s Whitehall Editor Kate Devlin reports:
Jenrick wins first round of voting to be next Tory leader as Patel eliminated
Former immigration minister, who sparked outrage last month after saying people shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ in London ‘should be arrested immediately’, beat the favourite Kemi Badenoch into second
Jabed Ahmed4 September 2024 17:34 1725466845Odds on the next Tory leader
Robert Jenrick has emerged as the frontrunner among Tory MPs to take over the leadership of the party as former home secretary Dame Priti Patel was eliminated from the contest.
He is currently the favourite to win. Here are the odds for all the candidates:
- Robert Jenrick – 5/4
- Kemi Badenoch – 13/8
- Tom Tugendhat – 15/2
- James Cleverly – 5/1
- Mel Stride – 33/1
Blair hits out at Brexit pledge to control immigration
Sir Tony Blair has hit out at the Brexit campaign’s pledge to control immigration.
The former Labour prime minister, who opposed leaving the European Union, made the comments in an interview with the BBC.
The Leave campaign famously argued that Brexit would allow Britain to “take back control” of its borders.
But in recent years net migration soared, topping 760,000 in 2022.
Sir Tony said if he was a leader today it would be “completely dishonest” for him to say “’I can stop all migration into this country’ because I can’t. There’s no way that’s going to happen. There’s no modern developed country in which that is happening. And by the way, if you do end up trying to do this is what we’ve done with Brexit. What’s the result? We’ve now got higher levels of immigration than ever before. And we’ve swapped out usually single people coming from Europe, as I say, to work in things like the hospitality sector, for families from Asia and Africa. I mean, how is this how has this helped us?”
Kate Devlin 4 September 2024 17:15 1725466246Labour responds to Tory leadership first ballot results
Responding to the results of the first round of the Tory leadership contest, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Tories have successfully slimmed down the pool of contenders from six people who each played their hand in 14 years of chaos and decline, to five people who each played their hand in 14 years of chaos and decline.
“From what we have seen so far, not one of them is prepared to learn from the lessons of the past.
“It is a damning indictment of the state of the Conservative Party that these candidates are the best they have to offer.
“The Conservatives left the worst possible inheritance. Labour is getting on with the job of fixing it.”
Jabed Ahmed4 September 2024 17:10 1725465649James Cleverly says Priti Patel will be ‘integral part’ of Tories’ future
Jabed Ahmed4 September 2024 17:00 Newer1 / 5OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
