Johnson tops Tory leadership first round; McVey, Leadsom out

Boris Johnson predictably topped the first round of the Conservative Party leadership contest on Thursday as the only two female candidates were eliminated.

The hard-right Brexiteer and former foreign secretary Johnson secured 114 first round votes, comfortably ahead of his nearest rival Jeremy Hunt with 43 and the man who knifed him in the 2016 leadership ballot, Michael Gove, who polled 37..

Hardline Brexiters and fellow right-wing travellers Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey were both kicked out of the contest with a paltry 11 and nine votes each respectively.

McVey, an enthusiastic supporter of benefit cuts who was last year forced to apologise to parliament for misleading MPs over Universal Credit, had pledged to stand up for working class voters.

Former chief whip Mark Harper was also eliminated with 10 votes.

Conservative leadership conference first round results:

Boris Johnson 114

Jeremy Hunt 43

Michael Gove 37

Dominic Raab 27

Sajid Javid 23

Matt Hancock 20

Rory Stewart 19

Andrea Leadsom 11

Mark Harper 10

Esther McVey 9