Tory leadership race: Suella Braverman knocked out in latest vote

Attorney General Suella Braverman has been knocked out of the Tory leadership contest, leaving five candidates left in the race to succeed Boris Johnson.

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak came first with 101 votes, followed by Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt in second place on 83 and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss third on 67.

Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch came fourth with 49 votes, with senior Tory Tom Tugendhat fifth on 32.

The next round of voting is on Monday.

The remaining candidates will take part in TV debates in the coming days before the field is whittled down further next week.

More MP ballots will be held until there are only the final two, who will then face a vote by about 160,000 Conservative Party members to decide who will be the next party leader and prime minister.

The result will be announced on 5 September, when Mr Johnson will leave office.

Mr Sunak has claimed the top spot in the first and second rounds, but the race is far from over, with Ms Mordaunt gaining ground in the latest vote.

The remaining five hopefuls will now try to woo Tory MPs who backed Ms Braverman. She won 27 votes in the latest round of the leadership contest.

The attorney general had said she would take the UK out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights, cut VAT on energy and reduce regulation.

Ms Braverman styled herself as the only "authentic" Brexiteer candidate in contention, pointing to the fact that she resigned as a Brexit minister under former Prime Minister Theresa May over her deal.

The former barrister has served as MP for Fareham in Hampshire since 2015, replacing Geoffrey Cox as attorney general in 2020.