Johnson Dominates Tory Contest After First Round: Brexit Update
No More Chances to Block No-Deal, Letwin Says: Brexit Update
(Bloomberg) --
Boris Johnson took a huge lead in the race to become Britain’s next prime minister, after Conservative members of Parliament held their first round of voting. Seven candidates won through to the second round in the contest to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May, while three were knocked out.
Key Developments:
- Johnson won 114 votes in the secret ballot of Tory MPs, with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in second place on 43 votes.
- The other contenders going into round two are: Michael Gove in third place with 37 votes, Dominic Raab (27 votes), Sajid Javid (23 votes), Matt Hancock (20 votes), and Rory Stewart (19 votes). Candidates need 33 votes to make it through the second round next week.
- Brexiteers Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey were eliminated, along with former chief whip Mark Harper
- The next round of voting will take place on Tuesday
- Read more: Boris Johnson Is Slim, Trimmed and Ready to Fight for Power
Gove Wants Debate About Ideas (2:44 p.m.)
Third-placed Michael Gove said in a video posted on Twitter that he’s delighted to progress to the next round of voting “along with a range of other very good candidates.”
“I now want to make sure that we have a proper debate about ideas,” Gove said, after the opening days of his campaign were dominated by revelations about his cocaine use.
“I’ve got the policies that can transform this country for the better, I’ve got the experience of delivery that can make sure that we have a brighter future and I’ve got the range of support which will enable all of us in this country to come together,” he said.
Hunt Says U.K. Needs ‘Serious’ Leader (2:30 p.m.)
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted he’s “delighted” with second place and that the country needs a “serious” leader. Commentators will no doubt interpret that as a dig aimed at front-runner Boris Johnson, who’s known for his jokes.
“We face a crucial choice: who can negotiate some better choices than the bad ones we face,” Hunt said. “The stakes have rarely been higher for our country. This serious moment calls for a serious leader.”
Johnson: We’ve a Long Way To Go (2:25 p.m.)
Boris Johnson tweeted after his convincing victory in the first round of voting to thank those who backed him and remind them the job is not yet done.
“Thank you to my friends and colleagues in the Conservative & Unionist Party for your support,” he wrote. “I am delighted to win the first ballot, but we have a long way to go.”
Stewart: We’ll Hold Alternative Parliament (2:10 p.m.)
Rory Stewart, who won 19 votes in the first round of voting, said he’ll set up an alternative House of Commons near the Palace of Westminster if Boris Johnson suspends Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit.
Stewart told Sky News he’s been asking Johnson for a week if he’d be prepared to suspend Parliament and hasn’t yet received an answer. Stewart said Methodist Central Hall, on the other side of Parliament Square, could be used as the venue for an alternative.
“I guarantee you if he were to try, I and every other member of Parliament will sit across the road in Methodist Central Hall and we will hold our own session of Parliament and we will bring him down,” Stewart told Sky News. “Lets get Boris to be straight. Does he or does he not consider locking the doors of parliament to be acceptable?”
Bookmaker Says Johnson Red-Hot Favorite (1:50 p.m.)
Johnson is the clear favorite to become prime minister. Ladbrokes Plc’s odds imply a 80% chance of the former London mayor taking the top job, while nearest challenger Jeremy Hunt, has a 17% shot. Betting odds are by no means an infallible guide to the ultimate outcome, but can provide a useful gauge of sentiment.
Stewart Says He Won’t Serve a PM Johnson (1:40 p.m.)
Rory Stewart – who surprised commentators by making it through to the next round of votes, told the BBC that he’s “over the moon”, and that he aims to build on that support. He pointed to the traction he’s got on social media.
“None of these other candidates at the moment are really tapping into this,” Stewart said. “A Conservative message communicated properly and if you listen in the right way is incredibly popular.”
On Brexit, Stewart stuck to the line that the withdrawal agreement struck by Theresa May is the only deal available -- and that he’s a realist, in contrast to his rivals. “There are no other agreements out there. All these other candidates are spinning fairy stories.”
He then said he couldn’t serve in Boris Johnson’s cabinet “because he is advocating for a policy which I cannot believe in.”
Raab Says He’s Just Getting Started (1:35 p.m.)
Dominic Raab, the fourth-placed candidate, said his result of 27 votes was “a good base to build on” as the contest progresses. “This campaign is just getting started,” he said.
Rudd Sees Chance for Hunt When Members Vote (1:30 p.m.)
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd – who’s supporting Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt – told the BBC it looks almost certain Johnson will get to the final two candidates, but then the competition will reset.
“It’s back to zero when we go to members,’’ she said. “And I hope that my man, Jeremy Hunt, wins.”
Rudd also called for a more public debate between the contenders. "We could all benefit from a little more exposure of the leading candidates,” she told Sky News. “We’re not just choosing the next leader leader of the Conservative Party, we’re choosing the next prime minister.”
Johnson Tops Voting in First Round (1:05 p.m.)
Boris Johnson topped the ballot in the first round of voting to find Theresa May’s successor. The former foreign secretary won 114 votes. If he can hold onto those supporters in subsequent rounds he will win through to be one of the two candidates put to a national vote of grassroots party members. (See 12:45 p.m.)
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt came second with 43 votes, Michael Gove was third with 37 votes and Dominic Raab fourth with 27 votes.
Andrea Leadsom (11 votes), Mark Harper (10) and Esther McVey (9) were eliminated.
The remaining candidates will go forward to a further ballot on Tuesday next week and there will be a series of votes until just two are left. There will then be a vote by Conservative Party members across the U.K.
Key Numbers to Watch Out For in Tory Ballot (12:45 p.m.)
The Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee is due to announce the results of the first round of voting at 1p.m. The 313 Tory Members of Parliament were eligible to vote.
Some numbers to watch out for:
- The candidate who gets the fewest votes is out, whatever happens.
- Any candidate who gets 16 votes or fewer is also out – so more than one politician could be eliminated in this round.
- The magic number to watch out for is 105. If any candidate reaches that threshold – and is able to hold onto those supporters in the subsequent rounds of votes – they’ll be one of the final two candidates put to a vote of grassroots party members. That’s because it would be impossible for two other candidates to have more than that number of votes.
Voting Over in First Round (12:10 p.m.)
Voting has closed in the first round of the Tory leadership contest. The result is expected at 1 p.m. Officials carried four ballot boxes out of the room where MPs voted, and candidates and their supporters left to wait for the outcome.
Javid Not Shut Out of Banquet For Being Muslim (11:30 a.m.)
It is “categorically untrue” to say Sajid Javid’s exclusion from a banquet at Buckingham Palace during U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit was because he is a Muslim, Theresa May’s spokesman James Slack told reporters in London (see 8:15 a.m.).
Javid said it was “odd” to have been excluded, but stopped short of saying it was because of his faith during a BBC Radio interview. May was left off the guest list for Barack Obama’s state dinner when she was home secretary.
Javid, who was then communities secretary, criticized Trump in 2017 when the President retweeted a video posted by Britain First, a far-right group. But TV pictures showed the two men having a conversation during the D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth last week.
Stewart Explains Campaign Tactics (11:10 a.m.)
In interview after casting his vote, Tory leadership candidate Rory Stewart explained why his campaign has apparently focused more on interactions with British voters than with Conservative MPs and grassroots members who will dictate whether he becomes prime minister.
“For me it’s incredibly important that I’m able to demonstrate to members of Parliament that I can win an election, and that the Conservative party membership is behind me,” he said. “In the end they are proxies really for the public, so I have to show them what the public thinks.”
May Casts Vote in Leadership Contest (10:45 a.m.)
Prime Minister Theresa May has cast her vote in the contest to find her successor, as has favorite Boris Johnson.
Candidate Rory Stewart said that if he’s eliminated in the first round, he’ll leave it up to his supporters to decide who to back in subsequent ballots.
“There are only two candidates who can beat Boris: me and Boris,” he told reporters, noting a ConservativeHome poll that showed him in second place -- though well behind Johnson -- in a survey of Tory members.
Stewart urged Johnson to attend the scheduled televised debates, saying the public has a right to know his views on no-deal and suspending Parliament to get Brexit done. Johnson told colleagues on Wednesday he is “strongly not attracted” to proroguing Parliament, according to Tory MP Simon Clarke.
Four Candidates Short of Public Backers: Website (10:15 a.m.)
According to the ConservativeHome website, Health Secretary Matt Hancock became the sixth of the 10 candidates to garner enough public backers to make it through to the next round of voting.
That leaves Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom, Rory Stewart and Mark Harper, according to the website. Leadsom told ITV’s “Peston” show late on Wednesday that she’s “very optimistic” she has enough support; Harper told the same show he’s “confident of getting through.”
“I know I’m the outsider,” McVey told reporters outside the ballot room. “The important thing is the platform I’m standing on,” which is more spending on police and education and public sector pay, she said.
The ballot is secret, though, meaning public pledges of support don’t guarantee actual votes in private. And many MPs haven’t declared their allegiance.
Tory MPs Begin Voting for New Leader (10 a.m.)
Conservative MPs started voting in the first round of a series of secret ballots to choose Theresa May’s successor as Tory leader and prime minister.
At least one of the 10 candidates is certain to be eliminated in today’s vote, with a result expected at about 1 p.m. As well as the last-placed contender, those failing to garner at least 17 votes from the party’s 313 MPs will be out of the running, leaving the others to face more ballots next week.
The first leadership candidate to cast their vote was Esther McVey; other early voters included Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, former Brexit Secretary David Davis and prominent Brexiteer Steve Baker.
Tory MPs Charlie Elphicke and Peter Bone sat outside the door holding guides to parliamentary members and wearing “Back Boris” badges. Bone confirmed they were acting as tellers for the Johnson campaign.
Javid Says Irish ‘Key’ to New Deal (8:15 a.m.)
Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who launched his leadership campaign on Wednesday, said the Irish government is the “key” to brokering a new deal with the EU -- even though senior ministers in Dublin have insisted negotiations are with the whole bloc.
Javid told BBC Radio he thinks that if Ireland agreed a time limit to the contentious backstop, the EU would also agree. “Ireland is absolutely the key to this,” he said. It “is in the gift of the Irish.” Javid has pledged to offer Dublin cash to pay for alternative arrangements on the EU’s land border with Northern Ireland.
“I think there is a desire in the EU to look again at getting a deal,” Javid said. He also said he would choose a no-deal split over no Brexit, but conceded it would be “challenging” and would need stimulus for the economy “through tax changes and supply-side changes.”
Javid also said it was “odd” that he wasn’t invited to the State Banquet during President Donald Trump’s visit to the U.K. “I’ve asked but I don’t know why,” he said. “I’ve just been told an invitation doesn’t always go to the home secretary.”
MPs’ Options to Block No-Deal Exhausted: Letwin (7:15 a.m)
Former Tory minister Oliver Letwin, who voted for a Labour motion to try to block a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday, said he can think of no other ways that Parliament can intervene to stop a future prime minister from taking the U.K. out of the European Union without an agreement.
“We need to have an opportunity that’s legitimate under parliamentary procedure,” Letwin told BBC Radio 4. “I’ve really struggled very hard to think of every available opportunity and I can’t currently think of any more.”
Letwin said a future prime minister could allow the U.K. to crash out without Parliament’s approval by doing “nothing.” If there is no legislation to amend, MPs will be powerless, he said. But he stopped short of joining fellow pro-EU Tory Dominic Grieve’s pledge to vote to bring down a government pursuing a chaotic divorce.
If Boris Johnson becomes prime minister, “I, and I think some others, will try to persuade him that we really do need an orderly exit and not one without a deal,” Letwin said.
Earlier:
--With assistance from Dara Doyle, Kitty Donaldson and Robert Hutton.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net;Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net;Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs
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