LONDON (Reuters) -Three hopefuls were left in the race to become leader of the Conservatives on Tuesday after moderate former foreign minister James Cleverly took a surprise lead in the contest set to shape the future of Britain’s once dominant party.
Cleverly, who was also interior minister during the last Conservative government, was in front for the first time after 120 lawmakers voted for their next leader to replace former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
He won 39 votes with right-wing former immigration minister Robert Jenrick taking 31 and former trade minister Kemi Badenoch getting 30. Tom Tugendhat, a moderate former security minister, was knocked out.
Cleverly thanked lawmakers for backing him but added on X: “The job’s not finished. I’m excited to keep spreading our positive Conservative message.”
With the result due to be announced on Nov. 2, lawmakers will whittle down the pack to two on Wednesday and hand the final vote to Conservative members to install a new leader who will be under pressure to retake power at the next election.
The Conservatives are more hopeful of returning to power in five years time after Prime Minister Keir Starmer suffered a bumpy start following his landslide election victory in July, with the Labour government under fire over welfare cuts and ministers accepting donations for clothes and concerts.
But they still face an uphill climb to re-establish trust with voters, who even Conservatives admit whole-heartedly rejected them at the July 4 election.
Tuesday’s round of voting handed pole position to Cleverly, boosted by his appearance at last week’s Conservative conference when members praised his speech in which he called for the party to be more “normal”.
The remaining three have all said they would reunite a party, mired in chaos, scandal and deep divisions over Brexit during its last eight years in government, and return to its conservative roots to offer an alternative to Labour at the next national election which must take place before mid-2029.
But they differ over how to tackle immigration, an issue that voters see as increasingly important at a time when public services are stretched.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Andrew MacAskill, writing by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Michael Holden)
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