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Tory leadership: MPs start voting on final day to decide last two candidates for PM - live news
Tory leadership: Johnson, Gove and Hunt progress as Javid is eliminated – live news
(about 4 hours later)
Mel Stride, the leader of the Commons, has just announced that MPs will rise for the summer recess on Thursday 25 July.
And this is from the Daily Mail’s Jason Groves.
The @CommonsLeader announces the summer recess dates, rising on Thurs 25 July and returning on Tues 3 Sept. Unclear whether the new Tory Leader will have been announced by summer recess.
Knives out for Boris Johnson's unofficial chief whip Gavin Williamson. Minister on a rival team describes him as a 'scheming c***', adding: 'It says a lot about Boris's judgment that he's allowed him anywhere near him.'
The Conservative party has said its new leader will be announced in the week beginning Monday 22 July - ie, the week the recess starts - but it has not said exactly when the new prime minister will take over.
From the FT’s Jim Pickard
Asked if the new prime minister would be in office before the recess, Stride told MPs that he could not say. But Downing Street has said that Theresa May’s successor will be in post before the recess starts.
Tory MP: “Most of us are working on the assumption that we’ll have to endure another leadership contest within the next 18 months....”
More from the committee corridor, where Tory MPs have been voting
Some worrying news from the BBC’s Chris Mason ...
I gather there are a large number of proxy votes being cast today, including that of the Prime Minister - Theresa May’a vote will be cast by joint Returning Officer Charles Walker, who says the identity of her chosen candidate is a secret he will “take to the grave”.
Just spoke to a member of the 1922 Executive Committee about exactly this -- and if it's a dead heat for 2nd place, there will be ANOTHER vote this evening...https://t.co/8GEM8hZ9WW
Tory MPs voting for the millionth time this week now.Our team at the count inform us the ballot papers are pale green.Results shortly after one.
Paul Goodman, editor of ConservativeHome, a website that is very influential with Tory members, has written a good preview of the final ballot starting at 3.30pm this afternoon. He suggests it might be easier for the party if Jeremy Hunt is on the ballot for members, not Michael Gove. Here is an extract.
“We won’t be doing this for at least another six months,” jokes one Tory MP after casting their vote.
We end with the thought that, if Hunt wins through, it is relatively easy to imagine him as deputy prime minister or first secretary of state – rowing in behind [Boris] Johnson as a dependable deputy. The latter flourishes when strong support is to hand. Simon Milton in London was the quintessential example.
Final day of voting among Tory MPs for next Conservative leader – but will they get to do this all again in six months time? Rival campaign teams tell each other: ‘We’ll all meet again in November.’ https://t.co/WpOZj1yyPc
If Gove survives the remaining ballot instead, we don’t see how he could be deployed by Johnson in a similar way. There is too much tricky history between the two men. There would be too much media sensitivity to power struggles, appointments and policy differences.
Boris Johnson’s team are said to be furious about claims they’ve been engaging in tactical voting. A WhatsApp message was sent around earlier saying tactical voting is wrong and undermines the campaign.
This is from Jeremy Hunt.
The Johnson team is said to be concerned the reports could actually lead to a falling-back or support today as MPs think they are free to lend their votes.
Critical decision now for all colleagues is what choice do we present to the country? And what future? Choose me for unity over division, and I will put Boris through his paces and then bring our party and country back together.
Michael Gove is the next candidate to arrive to cast his vote
Turning away from London, in Brussels, where the EU summit is getting underway, Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (prime minister) has said there is “enormous hostility” in the EU to the idea of granting the UK another extension. These are from my colleague Jennifer Rankin.
Michael Gove just went in to vote, overheard telling Michael Fabricant “you’re my defence against the dark arts.” Not sure what that’s about! #ToryLeadership
Leo Varadkar sets out EU's well-known position on Brexit.▶️Negotiations can only happen between the UK and the EU.▶️ The withdrawal agreement is not going to be reopened. ▶️No withdrawal agreement = no transition period.
Here is Sajid Javid with some of his supporters outside committee room 14, where MPs are voting.
Leo Varadkar: "while I have endless patience, some of my colleagues have lost patience with the UK and there is enormous hostility to a further extension."He thinks this would only happen if there was general election or second ref, not indicative votes.
Once more unto the breach #TeamSaj pic.twitter.com/gNqBasumgg
Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt have both said they would not rule out asking for an extension of Brexit beyond 31 October, if both sides were close to a deal and more time were needed. Boris Johnson has said that he would not do this although, as noted earlier, many Tories believe that in practice he might want an extension. (See 12.22pm.)
Broadcasters have been doorstepping all the leadership candidates this morning. Boris Johnson did not respond to questions, but the others did.
For article 50 to be extended again, beyond 31 October, the UK would have to request that, and the EU 27 would have to agree unanimously.
Jeremy Hunt said the county could “do better than Boris Johnson” for next prime minister. He said:
UPDATE: Here are the full quotes from Leo Varadkar.
I’m confident but not over-confident. We’ve had three ballots. In every one of those ballots people have said that I’m not going to do well. Each time I’ve exceeded expectations. I need my supporters to come and say, ‘Yes, we can do better than Boris Johnson as the next prime minister of our country, we can choose someone who the European Union are actually going to talk to, and get that better Brexit deal.’
On the backstop
Sajid Javid said he was best placed to take on Johnson because he was a change candidate. He said:
There’s no withdrawal agreement without a backstop and there’s no implementation period without a withdrawal agreement.
My colleagues, I’m sure, have been thinking carefully during the night and I hope I can pick up some votes ... It has been good news so far already, speaking to colleagues. I’m sure I will be picking up some votes. But these things can be unpredictable. I want to go for it and try my very best and by the end of the day we will have two candidates for the leadership election. One of them will certainly be Boris Johnson. I think I have the strongest case for being the other one, a change candidate that can win over the nation eventually in a general election with Jeremy Corbyn.
On an extension
And Michael Gove said he was “very confident”. He said:
There’s very much a strong view across the European Union that there shouldn’t be any more extensions. While I have endless patience, some of my colleagues have lost patience, quite frankly, with the UK and there’s enormous hostility to any further extension.
I’m feeling very confident today. I had a wonderful level of support yesterday from parliamentary colleagues. I’m looking forward to making it through to the final two and looking forward to a civilised debate of ideas on who to make sure that we can make this country better.
So, I think an extension could only really happen if it were to facilitate something like a general election in the UK or perhaps even something like a second referendum if they decided to have one.
From the Times’ Francis Elliott
What won’t be entertained is an extension for further negotiations or further indicative votes: the time for that has long since passed.
Some Tory wets are still agonising this morning. Questions over Gove's temperament weighed against Hunt's perceived lack of oomph. Javid not mentioned so far.
Chris Skidmore, the universities minister and a Sajid Javid supporter, says he is now voting for Boris Johnson.
Boris Johnson as prime minister would have to dump his pledge to get rid of the Irish backstop and then change the British government’s red lines for there to be hope of further Brexit negotiations, the Dutch prime minister has said. As Daniel Boffey reports, Mark Rutte said an incoming prime minister needed to be flexible, adding that he hoped that the rhetoric of the Tory leadership campaign would be dropped once a new leader was confronted with the reality of the UK’s position.
I am sorry to see @sajidjavid depart the Conservative leadership contest. He ran an excellent, positive campaign that I am proud to have been a part. We now need to unite around delivering Brexit and come together as a party. But we also need a new policy agenda for change 1/2
EU won't negotiate on Boris Johnson's Brexit plan, says Dutch PM
I have decided that with the support of the majority of MPs and members, @BorisJohnson can unite the party and deliver Brexit with a liberal agenda for the future, that backs freedom of talent and must as a priority protect our European research and education partnerships 2/2
The Independent’s Rob Merrick reckons the UK would be better off with Rutte as the next PM.
Here is ITV’s Robert Peston on Boris Johnson’s dilemma.
More honesty on our Brexit plight in a 15-min #R4today interview with Dutch PM Mark Rutte than we will hear in a 6-week Tory leadership contestHe’s clearly better qualified for No 10 than any of the candidates!
Many supporters of @BorisJohnson are genuinely horrified at the idea of facing @michaelgove in the ballot of members - because they know he can inflict harm on their hero. So here is the dilemma for Johnson and his team. Johnson has the numbers - the votes of half...
From my colleague Peter Walker, who is outside committee room 14, where MPs are voting
Tory MPs - to be able to decide by personal fiat who he faces in the run-off. The point is that he he could instruct a proportion of his foot soldiers to vote for @Jeremy_Hunt and see off Gove. But if Johnson's vote does not rise in the fifth and final round, and...
Voting has now started in the fourth round of MPs’ voting in the Tory leadership contest. Dominic Grieve among the first in. It’s Johnson v Hunt v Gove v Javid, with Javid the most likely to go out. Fifth round this afternoon as needed (ie if no one else drops out).
especially if it falls, everyone will know that he has gerrymandered, which would taint him. In a way it would have been infinitely cleverer to lend votes to Hunt in the previous round, if he were so inclined, because the...
MPs are now voting in the fourth ballot for the Tory leadership.
rigging would have been harder to detect. "What to do, what to do?" as he may well be asking
Voting has commenced in the Fourth Ballot for the Tory leadership. Sir Peter Bottomley is the first to enter Committee Room 14.
This is from a Tory in the Jeremy Hunt camp.
The official register of MPs’ interests was updated late yesterday, and the new entries show the battle for fundraising among the Tory leadership candidates.
Boris and Michael are great candidates but we have seen their personal psychodrama before: it’s time to offer the country someone the EU will actually talk to. Jeremy is the candidate who can best unify the party and deliver Brexit.
Michael Gove trousered the most, £150,000 in donations over the two-week period covered, including £10,000 from Tory peer Lord Philip Harris, the carpet millionaire whose eponymous chain of academy schools was much-praised under Gove’s tenure as education secretary. Another £20,000 came from Simon Wolfson of the Next chain, also a Tory peer.
From the BBC’s Sarah Smith
Behind him in donations numbers was Rory Stewart, on £108,000, whose donors included David Dein, the former co-owner of Arsenal football club. Dominic Raab was on £93,000 – he also got £10,000 from Harris, who has clearly been spreading his bets.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson is now supporting Michael Gove for the Conservative party leadership
Jeremy Hunt received £82,000 over the period, with Johnson lagging on £25,000. However, in pervious editions of the register, Johnson had acquired signifcant sums before.
This is not hugely surprising – because Michael Gove is a Scot.
Again, no entries for Sajid Javid, which may or may not be connected to the fact that the former banker is personally very well-off.
Boris Johnson, his main rival, is seen as toxic to Tory prospects north of the border.
In his Mansion House speech tonight Philip Hammond, the chancellor, will also revive his implicit threat to vote against any new Tory leader who tries to take the UK out of the EU without a deal. Echoing a famous speech by Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell in 1960, when Gaitskell said he would “fight, fight and fight again” to reverse a decision by his party to back unilateral nuclear disarmament, Hammond will say:
Here’s Michael Gove pitching for the Sajid Javid vote.
I cannot imagine a Conservative and Unionist-led government, actively pursuing a no-deal Brexit; willing to risk the Union and our economic prosperity. And a general election that could put Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street, to boot.
Well done @sajidjavid for a brilliant and inspirational campaign. You are a hero and a great friend. You have so much more to give the party and the country in the future.
And I will not concede the very ground we stand on. I will fight, and fight again, to remake the case for pragmatism and, yes, for compromise in our politics – to ensure an outcome that protects the Union and the prosperity of the United Kingdom.
Sources close to Sajid Javid are saying he will not be endorsing any of the remaining candidates today.
In the past Hammond has refused to rule out voting against a Tory government in a no confidence motion to stop a no-deal Brexit. At least two other Tories - Dominic Grieve, here, and Ken Clarke, here - have also said they would vote down a Tory government in these circumstances. At the weekend Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, said there were “a number” of other Tory MPs saying, in private, that they would do the same.
In the Commons Michael Gove, the environment secretary and Tory leadership contender, is taking questions. In response to a question from Vicky Ford (who is backing the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, for the leadership) asking him to congratulate Hunt on his role in bringing the 2020 UN climate change talks to London, Gove said that Hunt was doing an “outstanding job” on the international stage and that he hoped he would continue.
But there are 27 Rory Stewart votes up for grabs this morning, and Gove also made a point of praising the work done by Stewart, the international development secretary.
In her final few weeks in office Theresa May has not been commenting on the Conservative leadership contest and, as a result, she has become a near-invisible presence in our media, because the statements she is making aren’t deemed interesting and aren’t being reported. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, will also be out of office by the end of the month. But, unlike May, he is going down fighting, and in his speech to the annual Mansion House dinner tonight he is going to effectively accuse all remaining Tory leadership candidates of failing to be honest with the public. And he is also going to tell them, in terms, that holding a second referendum may be the only option available to them.
By the time Hammond delivers his speech, the two final leadership ballots for Tory MPs will have concluded and we will know the names of the two candidates on the ballot paper for party members. Boris Johnson will be one of them. The other will almost certainly be Jeremy Hunt or Michael Gove; Sajid Javid, the fourth person still in the race, is expected to be out by lunchtime.
For the last week or so Rory Stewart has been playing the role “Brexit truth oracle” in Tory politics, pointing out the obvious flaws in the glib ‘renegotiate the backstop’ plans being championed by all the main leadership candidates. For his pains Stewart got booted out of the contest last night, receiving just 27 votes. As he takes on the voice of truth role tonight, Hammond will say:
There are some immutable truths that will continue to shape the Brexit debate over the coming months, no matter who is leader of the Tory party:
First, unless there is a general election, the parliamentary arithmetic will not change. Parliament will not allow no-deal; and on the evidence so far, parliament will not support the only deal that is on the table;
Secondly, the European Union will not renegotiate the deal.
And, thirdly, the Irish question, and with it the backstop, will not go away.
It may be that I’m wrong, and a new leader will persuade parliament to accept the deal it has already rejected.
Or that the European Union does a 180-degree U-turn and re-opens the withdrawal agreement.
But if I’m not, if the deal the current PM has negotiated is, in fact, the best deal possible; and parliament continues to reject both it and no-deal, then the question to the candidates is not “What is your plan?”; but “What is your plan B?”.
If your plan A is undeliverable, not having a plan B is like not having a plan at all.
So, the candidates need to be honest with the public. They need to recognise and address the difficult trade-offs inherent in delivering Brexit ...
If the new prime minister cannot end the deadlock in parliament, then he will have to explore other democratic mechanisms to break the impasse.
Because if he fails, his job will be on the line – and so, too, will the jobs and prosperity of millions of our fellow citizens.
As my colleague Jessica Elgot reports, Hammond will also say that, if a new prime minister does opt for a no-deal Brexit, there will be no money available for extra spending or tax cuts.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Michael Gove, the environment secretary and a Tory leadership contender, takes questions in the Commons.
9.30am: Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary and another Tory leadership contender, speaks at a Resolution Foundation event on intergenerational equality.
10am: Tory MPs start voting in the fourth leadership ballot. Voting closes at 12pm, and the result will be announced at about 1pm.
Lunchtime: EU leaders start arriving for their summit in Brussels.
3.30pm: Tory MPs start voting in the fifth leadership ballot. Voting closes at 5.30pm, and the result will be announced at about 6pm.
As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I will be focusing almost exclusively mostly on the Tory leadership contest.
You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
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