Jenrick and Badenoch face off to join Cleverly in Tory leadership final two – live

The Conservative leadership contest continues to ramp up after the four remaining contenders made their pitches to voters and delegates at the party’s 2024 conference.

Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat are the final candidates for the Tory top spot. Although the race was announced on 5 July, the leader will not be revealed until early November – although two candidates have called for the timeframe to be cut down.

Until then, former prime minister Rishi Sunak retains the position and has refused to be drawn into the ongoing contest so far.

Here’s your guide to the four candidates to be the next Conservative Party leader:

The Conservative Party is gearing up for the decisive final round of MP voting in its leadership contest.

The ballot is scheduled to kick off at 1.30pm today, with around 90 minutes on the clock for votes to be cast.

The results will be revealed at 3.30pm, determining which candidate will be eliminated from the race.

The remaining two contenders will then advance to face a vote from the wider Tory membership.

Here are yesterday’s results:

• James Cleverly: 39 votes (leading the race)
• Robert Jenrick: 31 votes
• Kemi Badenoch: 30 votes
• Tom Tugendhat: 20 votes (eliminated)

At today’s prime minister’s questions, Rishi Sunak waisted no time in delivering a sharp dig at Sir Keir Starmer, using the recent ousting of Sue Gray as fodder for his opening remarks.

The PM seized the opportunity to mock Sir Keir’s reshuffle, questioning the Labour leader’s handling of his own staff.

Mr Sunak’s “fire and rehire” jab referenced the departure of Sue Gray and return of Morgan McSweeney to the post.

Her exit followed reported tensions and a power struggle within the Labour leader’s team, an issue Mr Sunak sought to exploit as the PM approaches his 100th day in office.

While the remark sparked laughter across the Tory benches, Sir Keir’s leadership is facing early challenges and the Conservatives weren’t about to let them go unnoticed.

The government has been warned that a potential change to borrowing rules could spook the markets and trigger a Liz Truss-style meltdown.

While No 10 has insisted it will “absolutely deliver” on its pledge to restore economic stability, financial experts warned the plans could trigger investor backlash.

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Labour MP Dawn Butler raised Black History Month during PMQs.

She mentioned her attendance at an event called “Temptations” organised but the Speaker to mark the occasion.

The MP asked if the Commons would hold a dedicated debate.

In response, Sir Keir made a heart-lighted remark, suggesting he “probably should not be going to an event called Temptations at the moment”.

However, he welcomed MS Butler’s participation at a Black History Monthreception at No 10 that evening, which he is hosting.

And that was the last question of today’s PMQs.

Conservative MP David Davis pressed Sir Keir Starmer during PMQs on whether the government would allocate sufficient time for the Commons to properly debate the assisted dying bill.

Sir Keir agreed with the Tory MP and confirmed that if the bill clears its second reading, it would proceed for further scrutiny.

“We do need the discussion more broadly on this important issue,” he added.

But he avoided commmitting to giving the bill all the parliamentary time it would need to pass.

Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan raised concerns about road safety during PMQs.

She questioned the criteria used to determine when road improvement schemes are approved.

In response, Sir Keir Starmer admitted the importance of road safety and revealed the government is currently planning a new road investment strategy.

The Lib Dems have been avoiding much mention of Brexit after being so ardent in their support of a second referendum and reversing the 2016 vote until Britain finally left in 2020.

But with the questions over Keir Starmer’s EU reset and growing anger at the way he refuses to agree a Youth Mobility Scheme for under-30s, Ed Davey has finally gone for it and put some pressure on the prime minister.

It also marked a break in style where he had been using his two questions more to attack the Tory opposition than the Labour government.

However, many will be more interested in the fact that he pinned Starmer down on the future of the Falklands and Gibraltar after the Chagos Islands debacle.

A good day for the Lib Dem leader.

Sir Keir Starmer has announced a report from the government’s child poverty taskforce will be published in spring next year.

Labour MP Meg Hillier asked when the child poverty taskforce will report.

In response, Sir Keir said that it is appalling that “child poverty went up by 700,000 after 2010”.

“The taskforce report will be published in spring next year,” he said.

Sir Keir Starmer has declared the Falkland Islands are British and will remain British after a row about his decision to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

The prime minister last week refused to rule out ending British control of Gibraltar and the Falklands as he faced a backlash over a deal with Mauritius to cede control of the remote archipelago.

Asked on Friday to guarantee no other British overseas territory would be signed away by the government, the PM dodged the question, pointing to a deal to secure the long-term future of a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.

But, asked during PMQs about measures to make it easier for British citizens fishing off the Falklands to sell fish into Europe, Sir Keir said: “My uncle nearly lost his life when his ship was torpedoed defending the Falklands.

“They are British, and they will remain British. The sovereignty of Gibraltar is equally not going to be negotiated.”