Priti Patel knocked out of Tory leadership contest as Robert Jenrick tops first poll

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In the recent Conservative leadership contest, Robert Jenrick, who previously served as immigration minister, emerged as the leader in the initial round of voting. On the other hand, Dame Priti Patel, a former home secretary, was eliminated from the competition.

Patel dropped out of the race on Wednesday after only 14 Conservative MPs showed their support for her, which is half the number of MPs who backed Jenrick.

The voting narrowed down the candidates from six to five, with former business secretary Kemi Badenoch taking second place with 22 votes and former home secretary James Cleverly coming in third with 21 votes.

Previous security minister Tom Tugendhat placed fourth with 17 votes, while former pensions secretary Mel Stride came in fifth with 16 votes.

Almost all of the 121 Members of Parliament in the Tory party voted, except for three. Bob Blackman, who is in charge of the 1922 committee overseeing the race, was one of the MPs who chose not to vote.

The upcoming round of voting will happen on Tuesday, and after that, the last four candidates will compete at the party's yearly conference in Birmingham towards the end of this month.

Next, the options will be narrowed down to two candidates, and members of the Conservative party will vote to determine the winner. The results are expected to be announced on November 2nd.

Jenrick's supporters think he has a good chance to gain the votes of Patel's followers in the upcoming round and widen the gap between him and his main competitor, Badenoch.

Even though Badenoch was the top choice for the next Tory leader according to bookmakers, her supporters were not upset that she placed second in the initial round.

One campaign official mentioned that she is more moderate compared to the top right-wing candidate Jenrick and has the widest range of support in the competition.

Different supporters of candidates increased their attacks on opposing contenders and their campaigns after the election, but chose not to be identified in the negative comments.

Blackman has cautioned the opposing groups not to attack each other during the competition, and has announced a "yellow card" system to punish any unfair behavior within the party.

Some Conservative members were shocked that Tugendhat did not receive more support and believed that some of his supporters might switch to Cleverly's side.

Tugendhat expressed gratitude for advancing to the next round and emphasized that he is the only candidate capable of bringing about the Conservative transformation that is necessary for our party and country.

Stride, a trusted friend of the former Conservative leader Rishi Sunak, is likely to participate in the upcoming round of voting. He narrowly missed out on beating Tugendhat by just one vote. There were rumors he might withdraw and support a different candidate, but it seems he will continue with his own campaign.

One supporter of the centrist MP praised Mel for exceeding expectations and building momentum. They believe Mel would bring a more organized style of leadership to the party.

A representative from the Labour party said the Conservatives have managed to reduce the number of potential candidates from six individuals who were involved in 14 years of disorder and decline, to five individuals who were also involved in 14 years of disorder and decline.