Tory leadership election: Boris Johnson wins first round by landslide as McVey, Leadsom and Harper all exit contest

Follow the latest updates from Westminster, as they happened

Conservative leadership bid: Results of first ballot

Boris Johnson has emerged as the clear frontrunner in the first round of votes for the new Tory leader and prime minister.

The former foreign secretary won 114 votes, followed by Jeremy Hunt on 43 and Michael Gove with 37.

Andrea Leadsom, Mark Harper and Esther McVey failed to win enough votes, meaning they have all been knocked out of the Conservative leadership race.

To follow events as they unfolded, see our live coverage below

Please allow a moment for the live blog to load

Key Points

• Boris Johnson wins commanding victory in first leadership ballot
• ... as Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom and Mark Harper eliminated
• Rory Stewart vows to 'bring down' leadership rival Johnson
• New Final Say Brexit march to be held in the autumn
• Parliament may have run out of options to block no deal, says Sir Oliver Letwin

[13 June 2019 07:49 · Samuel Osborne]

Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the first ballot to select the new Tory leader.

Here's how it works: Candidates need at least 17 votes to go through to the second round. Anyone below this threshold is automatically eliminated. Even if all the hopefuls meet this target, the one with the lowest votes overall will still have to exit the race.

[13 June 2019 08:00 · Samuel Osborne]

It comes as Labour lost a critical vote on a bid to prevent a future Tory prime minister from forcing through a no-deal Brexit. Lizzy Buchan has the story: 

[13 June 2019 08:14 · Samuel Osborne]

Today's ballot will take place between 10am and 12pm, with the results due to be announced at 1pm.

[13 June 2019 08:30 · Samuel Osborne]

Parliament may have run out of options to block a no-deal Brexit by the next prime minister, Conservative former minister Sir Oliver Letwin has warned.

The Commons voted yesterday to reject a Labour motion, backed by other opposition parties, which would have enabled MPs to take control of the business of the House with a view to preventing a no-deal.

Sir Oliver, who was behind a series of cross-party attempts to block a no-deal, said there may be no more opportunities for Parliament to intervene.

"Under the Article 50 process, on 31 October the UK leaves the EU regardless of whether we do or don't have a deal in place unless somebody does something to alter that," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"If the government doesn't bring something before Parliament, Parliament won't have a chance to take a view on that as things currently stand because we have run out of all the possibilities any of us can, at the moment anyway, think of for Parliament to be able to insist on having a view.

"I have really struggled very hard to think of every available opportunity and I can't currently think of any more."

[13 June 2019 08:47 · Samuel Osborne]

All 313 Conservative MPs can take part in today's ballot meaning there are, in theory, enough votes up for grabs for each of the 10 candidates to reach the 17-vote threshold.

[13 June 2019 09:06 · Samuel Osborne]

Based on the latest bookmakers' odds, those at risk of ending up with the lowest number of votes overall are Esther McVey (130/1) and Mark Harper (160/1).

[13 June 2019 09:19 · Samuel Osborne]

Sajid Javid has said he is baffled by his exclusion from the state banquet for Donald Trump during the US president's state visit the UK.

The home secretary, who previously criticised Mr Trump for his endorsement of the right-wing Britain First group, was the only senior Cabinet minister not to be invited. Here's Lizzy Buchan on the Tory leadership contender's comments: 

[13 June 2019 09:39 · Samuel Osborne]

After today's ballot, the remaining candidates will have a few days to consolidate their support before the second ballot takes place next Tuesday.

Candidates will then need at least 33 votes to go through, meaning the field could be whittled down by two or three names.

Ballots continue until just two candidates remain in the contest.

[13 June 2019 09:49 · Samuel Osborne]

A third ballot will take place on 19 June, with provision for a fourth and fifth ballot on 20 June if necessary.

The two candidates left at the end of the ballots will then spend a month campaigning across the country.

At the same time, members of the Conservative Party will receive ballot papers allowing them to choose which of the two names they would prefer as leader.

The winner will be announced in the week beginning Monday 22 July.

[13 June 2019 09:55 · Samuel Osborne]

Voting in the first ballot to select the new Tory leader is set to begin in five minutes.