Michael Portillo has won the first round of the British Conservative Party leadership contest among MPs. However, a re-ballot was ordered after two candidates, Michael Ancram and David Davis, tied for last place with 21 votes each. This meant that the last-placed candidate could not be automatically eliminated. The full result, with all Conservative MPs taking part, was: Michael Portillo 49; Iain Duncan Smith 39; Kenneth Clarke 36; Michael Ancram and David Davis 21. A re-ballot of the 166 MPs will take place on Thursday. If there is still a tie for fifth place, both candidates will be automatically eliminated.
Mr Portillo was not surprised by the outcome of the vote. "It's exactly in line with our predictions and our canvassing," he said. Bernard Jenkin, Mr Duncan Smith's campaign manager, said that he was delighted with the result, which puts him ahead of Kenneth Clarke. MR Clarke remains confident, saying, "It's a wide-open race. I'm third behind Iain Duncan Smith and I think I'm going to come in the first two - there are 42 votes still to be fought for among the other two candidates."
Both Mr Davis and Mr Ancram have announced that they would not stand down from the contest and would fight Thursday's vote. "We are going to carry on. The pressure that has come is from the grassroots Tories. We expect to come through on Thursday. It is a very narrow gap," said Mr Davis. Mr Ancram was encouraged by his share of the vote. "Obviously I got many more votes than anybody predicted ... that's an endorsement of the campaign I have been fighting," said Mr Ancram.
