Second Round Of Conservative Leadership Contest Today, Result At 1500BST

The second round of the Conservative party leadership contest takes place later today, with MPs voting between 1130BST and 1330BST and the result to be announced at 1500BST (1000ET, 1600CET).

• In yesterday's first round vote two candidates (former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi) were eliminated from the contest having fallen below the 30-vote threshold. Their combined 43 votes will go to other candidates in today's vote.
• Six candidates - former Chancellor Rishi Sunak (88 votes), Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt (67), Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (50), former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch (40), chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Tom Tugendhat (37), and Attorney General Suella Braverman (31) - will contest the vote today. The threshold of votes remains 30, with any candidate falling below this level eliminated. If all candidates cross this threshold the individual with the fewest votes is eliminated.
• Following some positive polling from party members, Mordaunt remains the favourite to become the next leader according to betting markets. However, her position as joint frontrunner alongside Sunak means she now faces more scrutiny of her political positions and former experience having only held a frontline Cabinet position for a short period (Defence Sec May-July 2019).
• A total of 120 votes would guarantee any candidate a place in the final two. This number is just over one third of Conservative MPs, meaning that once the contest comes down to the final three candidates, anybody with 120 or more will be guaranteed at least second place.
• Should any candidate cross this threshold in the second round they could dispatch any supporters over this number to vote for candidates they would prefer to face in the final round.