Hunt and Zahawi are out as Sunak tops ballot and six candidates go through to round two Sir Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative 1922 Committee, is announcing the results of the first ballot. Rishi Sunak - 88 votes Penny Mordaunt - 67 Liz Truss - 50 Kemi Badenoch - 40 Tom Tugendhat - 37 Suella Braverman - 32 Nadhim Zahawi - 25 Jeremy Hunt - 18 He says that means Hunt and Zahawi are out of the contest. The others will go ahead to the second ballot tomorrow. Summary It’s been another busy day in Westminster, as two of the Tory leadership candidates were defeated in the ballot. Here is a round-up of the day’s top news stories: Rishi Sunak has taken an early lead in the Conservative leadership contest, as Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi were knocked out of the race to replace Boris Johnson. Penny Mordaunt launched her campaign to lead the Conservative party by vowing to overhaul Boris Johnson’s “failed model of leadership” and comparing the outgoing prime minister to Paul McCartney as she set out plans to dramatically slim down the cabinet. She would beat all other candidates in the Tory leadership contest in the final ballot of member - very easily, a YouGov poll for the Times suggests. Suella Braverman backer Steve Baker has insisted the attorney general will stay in the race to succeed Boris Johnson, despite only just clearing the minimum number of votes required to continue in the contest. Jeremy Hunt has backed Rishi Sunak to be the next prime minister. The former health secretary lost out in his bid to replace Boris Johnson earlier today after failing to get the required 30 nominations. Keir Starmer used prime minister’s questions to attack the tax affairs of Tory leadership candidates, while Boris Johnson insisted that while he had not wanted to depart No 10, he was nonetheless doing so “with my head held high”. Boris Johnson’s ministers have “given up on governing”, opposition parties have claimed after Priti Patel pulled out of an MPs’ questioning session with minimal notice, while a junior health minister was sent to explain a crisis in ambulance services. Sir Mike Penning has told Sky News that he has resigned as a Conservative party vice chair so that he can campaign openly for Penny Mordaunt. He says hers is the campaign with momentum. In an interview with Katy Balls for the Spectator, Liz Truss, the foreign secretary and Tory leadership candidate, has explained how she would pay for tax cuts. She would repay Covid debt over a longer period, she said Only 11% of voters would recognise a picture of Penny Mordaunt, the international trade minister and Tory leadership candidate, according to a poll by Savanta ComRes. Patrick Vallance has warned MPs that the world is about to be plunged into even deeper turmoil than it was during the Covid pandemic because of the impact of climate change. That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. You can follow all the latest UK politics news here. Goodnight. Iain Duncan Smith has written in the Daily Telegraph, outlining his support for Liz Truss. He says the foreign secretary has the “unshakable resolve to get the necessary but difficult reforms through Whitehall to get our economy motoring”, and notes that while she didn’t support Brexit she “has been committed to making the most of our new-found freedoms from the European Union”. The former Conservative party leader also praised Truss for her stance on China and Russia. Hunt backs Sunak"s campaign to be next PM Jeremy Hunt has backed Rishi Sunak to be the next prime minister. The former health secretary lost out in his bid to replace Boris Johnson earlier today after failing to get the required 30 nominations. Sunak is “one of the most decent, straight people with the highest standard of integrity that I have ever met in British politics”, Hunt told the BBC. “In a period when we need to rebuild trust with the electorate that shows we are in tune with modern Britain.” Sir Iain Duncan Smith has said Boris Johnson has “no desire to put a straitjacket” on by serving in government after leaving No 10. The former Conservative leader, who is backing foreign secretary Liz Truss in the race to succeed Johnson, was asked on LBC if she should ask him to serve in her cabinet if she wins. He said: He has no desire to put a straitjacket around himself, having to run in accordance with other people’s wishes. I have a suspicion that Boris will arise in another guise, and as ever he probably will dominate the news but I don’t think he’ll be in a cabinet. Duncan Smith also advised Johnson to step down as an MP at the next general election, saying: Once you’ve done the top job, lots of people decide that maybe it’s time they moved aside and no longer were the ghost at the feast. For those wondering what happens next in the race to be the next Conservative party leader (and, indeed, the next prime minister), the Press Association has put together a handy guide to all the key dates over the coming weeks. Thursday 14 July: Second round of voting by Conservative MPs. The field will be narrowed as the least popular candidate gets knocked out. Friday 15 July: First debate. Channel 4 will hold the first TV Tory leadership debate with the remaining candidates at 7pm. Sunday 17 July: Second debate. ITV will host a televised debate at 7pm. Monday 18 July: Third round of voting. The ballot on Monday and subsequent rounds will eliminate the contender with the fewest votes until only two remain – who will then go forward into a postal ballot of party members. Monday 18 July: Third debate. Sky News is scheduled to host another TV debate, hosted by Kay Burley. Friday 22 July onwards: Hustings are to take place around the country over the summer to help party members determine their choice. Monday 5 September: New Tory leader announced when MPs return to Westminster from their summer break. It was fainting room only at the Cinnamon Club for Penny Mordaunt’s leadership launch. There were no restrictions to the guest list – a welcome change from the Team Rish! campaign – and the private dining room was packed from at least half an hour before the start. In the front two rows were some of the MP backers. Mordaunt might have hoped for a rather more stellar collection than Andrea Leadsom, David Davis, Maria Miller and Sarah Atherton – not to mention inadequates such as Michael Fabricant and James Gray. Still, she does have George Freeman, the new Oliver Letwin who is so indecisive he has an existential crisis just choosing what to eat for breakfast, and Charles Walker, the sweetest and most gentle of MPs. So she must be doing something right. Boris Johnson’s ministers have “given up on governing”, opposition parties have claimed after Priti Patel pulled out of an MPs’ questioning session with minimal notice, while a junior health minister was sent to explain a crisis in ambulance services. Johnson’s role is now that of a caretaker prime minister, with a brief to implement existing policies but make no significant new decisions. However, there is concern that uninterest inside No 10 plus a huge turnover of ministers has created a power vacuum. Patel, the home secretary, had been scheduled to update MPs from the Commons home affairs committee on Wednesday morning about policies including progress on deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. But late on Tuesday, Patel said she could not attend because of “recent changes in government”, without apparent elaboration. Nadine Dorries has accused fellow Tory MPs of staging a "coup" against Boris Johnson The culture secretary has been one of the prime minister’s most ardent supporters, sticking by him even as support for his leadership collapsed at Westminster, PA reported. In a pre-released clip from BBC Panorama, Dorries says: I was quite stunned that there were people who thought that removing the prime minister who won the biggest majority that we’ve had since Margaret Thatcher in less than three years. Just the the anti-democratic nature of what they’re doing alone was enough to alarm me. And for me it was a coup. The full interview will air later on Wednesday. Sunak suffers from Daily Mail attacks Rishi Sunak is discovering that hell hath no fury like the Daily Mail scorned, as the rightwing newspaper dedicates itself to destroying the former chancellor’s bid to be Tory leader. In the week since Boris Johnson was deposed, the newspaper has remained steadfastly loyal to the outgoing prime minister – and steadfastly opposed to those such as Sunak who helped to force him out of office. Friday’s front page asked the question: “What the hell have they done?” and blamed a party “in the grip of collective hysteria” for forcing a leadership election. The following day the 1.4 million people who buy the Mail’s Saturday print edition were informed that the MPs who had deposed Johnson – such as Sunak – were “Tory traitors” who had opened the door to Keir Starmer entering Downing Street as leader of “a coalition of chaos”. Here is the moment that the 1922 Committee announced the results of the first ballot for Conservative party leader, with Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi falling short. Suella Braverman-backer Steve Baker has insisted the attorney general will stay in the race to succeed Boris Johnson, despite only just clearing the minimum number of votes required to continue in the contest. He said: “We have decided we have not yet begun to fight. People underestimate Suella at their peril.” Braverman received 32 votes in the ballot on Wednesday evening, just above the minimum requirement of 30. The result has already prompted calls for the right wing of the party to coalesce around a candidate, PA reported. “We are going to battle forwards and we are going to battle forward with a good heart,” Baker told Sky News. “It is not clear that either Rishi or Liz can do it from here.” After securing 40 votes to progress through the first ballot of the leadership contest, former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch tweeted: “I am grateful that so many colleagues supported me this evening. “To win the next election and deliver Conservative solutions to today’s problems, our party must stand as the party for change. “I have the conviction, the courage, and the clarity of thought to deliver that change.” As the various Tory leadership candidates absorb the results from today’s ballot, their spinners are already out looking to shore up their support. A spokesperson for Liz Truss, who is set to launch her campaign on Thursday, said: Now is the time for colleagues to unite behind the candidate who will cut taxes, deliver the real economic change we need from day one and ensure Putin loses in Ukraine. Liz has the experience to deliver the benefits of Brexit from day one, grow our economy and support working families. Brandon Lewis, who was chairing Nadhim Zahawi’s campaign before the chancellor lost out in the first ballot, said he hopes the “remaining stages of the leadership contest are carried out in a constructive spirit”. “I am incredibly proud to have chaired Nadhim’s leadership campaign and I must pay tribute to him and the character and decency he has shown throughout,” the former Northern Ireland secretary said in a statement, which did not state who he now intends to support. “It is my hope that the remaining stages of the leadership contest are carried out in a constructive spirit, in the best interests of our party and the country. “The British people deserve honourable and effective leadership.”