Priti Patel knocked out of Tory leadership contest in first round of voting

Former home secretary got two fewer votes than Mel Stride, while Robert Jenrick leads race to succeed Rishi Sunak

Priti Patel, the home secretary under Boris Johnson, was once regarded as a likely future leader of the Conservative party.

Priti Patel has been knocked out of the race to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative party leader in the first round of voting by Tory MPs.

The former home secretary received 14 votes from her colleagues, leaving her two behind the fifth-placed candidate, Mel Stride.

Robert Jenrick was firmly in the lead with 28 votes, ahead of Kemi Badenoch, the bookies’ favourite, on 22 James Cleverly exceeded expectations by securing 21 votes and Tom Tugendhat received 17.

Patel’s loss was a surprise for many in Westminster given that Stride, the former work and pensions secretary, was expected to exit the race first. The result shows how far her standing in the parliamentary party has slipped since she was home secretary under Boris Johnson, when she was seen as a probable future party leader.