Results Of Conservative Leadership Second Round At Top Of Hour

The results of the second round of the Conservative party leadership contest are expected at the top of the hour, with the candidate with fewest votes set to be eliminated from the race.

• Having just scraped through the first round vote yesterday with 31 backers, hardline brexiteer Attorney General Suella Braverman is seen as the most likely to be removed from the contest today.
• There is intense speculation as to the split of the votes going forwards, with the three main frontrunners - former Chancellor Rishi Sunak (88 votes yesterday), Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt (67) and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (50) - each appealing to different wings of the party.
• Sunak seen as the moderate and most economically literate candidate but somewhat tainted by long association with PM Boris Johnson. Mordaunt seen as a 'clean start' having never been in Johnson's cabinet, but viewed as untested. Truss popular with pro-Brexit, libertarian wing of the party. Unclear how the votes of those candidates likely to exit in the coming rounds (right-winger Kemi Badenoch and One Nation Conservative Tom Tugendhat) could influence the final rounds.
• There is the strong potential for tactical voting my MPs in various camps as the race moves to decide the identity of the final two candidates ahead of a vote among party memebers.
• BBC News to have live coverage of the result announcement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-62158367