And then there were three... Tory Party leadership contenders

Can't see Badenoch lasting more than a year. She's far too thin-skinned, easily riled, and can't avoid getting drawn into pointless sideshow stuff. Jenrick is hideous but far more calculating, so I can see him surviving a bit longer.

They're not winning an election with either of them as leader though. I think this could well precipitate a merger with Reform.

A lunatic choice; says they have given up on any moderate centre vote at all.

The Tory membership chose Liz Truss. But this contest seems guaranteed to produce a loser leader whatever horse they back.

The membership will go with Badenoch given that choice. I think the parliamentary party shot themselves in the foot going with Cleverly rather than Tugendhat as the moderate option, and now they're gamble has pushed it to a choice between the two most despicable options available.

Does anyone think that either will still be leader come the next election?

I don't think it was that much of a surprise since Cleverly clearly performed much better than the other candidates at the party conference, as a result of which the bookies had made him favourite. However, I understand a senior Tory is saying that Cleverly's team blundered by lending votes to Jenrick. If that is true, it was a huge mistake.

I think the conservative MPs have lost their minds. This is their Corbyn moment and they're now completely screwed for the next 5 years.

I'm not a conservative fan, but bloody hell, we need an effective opposition.

There are suggestions his team thought it was in the bag and lent votes to Jenrick as they would have preferred to face him rather than Badenoch in the members' vote. If that is true, it was incredibly stupid given how few MPs the Conservatives have.

I am disappointed but not surprised that the Conservatives are going to elect someone from the right of the party. Labour tend to lurch to the left after losing power and the Tories tend to lurch to the right. In both cases, a return to power generally only happens when they remember that elections are won from the centre and select a leader who can capture the centre ground.

Yes I've just seen a suggestion on Twitter that some of Jenricks support was "lent" to Cleverly to oust TT.

What a mess. I'm now hoping KB wins purely because I think PMQ might be marginally more interesting.

That's a shocker.
I can't wait for the Badenoch Jenrick debates.🙈

Yeh that was an odd bounce

Can’t know for sure of course but I doubt the membership would have voted for him anyway

@Westfacing cleverly is now out, final two are genrick and badenoch

Surprised re Cleverly

Only because he was leading the other day, maybe some strange bounce there

Five years is an age away. Depends how things pan out with various pressures

Wasn't cleverley the one who made the joke about the date rape drug???? Horrible horrible little man. All as bad as each other

In an ideal world, the UK would be better having a strong, centrist opposition.

But, for Labour, this is the best outcome from a party politics pov. It seems like the Tory's are still more obsessed with Reform than learning from their mistakes and building a credible opposition. Neither potential candidate seems to be the sort to appeal to a wide ranging electorate.

Plus, it's not like either will actually still be leader in 5 years time 😂

What a sad sorry bunch to choose from. But I did think Cleverly would get it. He seemed the best of the poor options.

These two really are a rather poor show who don't inspire me whatsoever.

Hands up I'm a Tory supporter, though it's been hard to be so these past few years as they've spent their time fighting each other and falling apart. Now look where it's got them? The marginally decent ones lost their seats, others resigned and now this.

God it's depressing.

Agreed.

It's a choice between mad and madder.

Pippa Crerar says she's spoken to Tory MPs who voted for their preferred second candidate on the assumption Cleverly was safe 🙄
If true, it's monumentally stupid especially considering how few MPs they have and therefore how close it was going to be.

Just when you think it can't possibly get any worse.

Good news for Labour.

Cleverly is out. The Right have it.

I bet half the members would go for Boris if he was there. Although they have lost around 1/4 of members in 2 years.

I feel sorry for the Tory members having to choose one of the final two - like having to choose sickness or diahorrea.

If these three are the best they've got they can look forward to being in opposition for a very very long time. Dreadful bunch!

I'd say very very small - they'll probably have yet another leader between now and 2029!

Jenrick has shifted right. Badenoch is a right wing loony so Cleverly is slightly more moderate but not the brightest! None can unite the party and this will lead to more calls for Boris. It might be interesting though.