Tory leadership race: Boris Johnson left unscathed after BBC debate

Boris Johnson emerged unscathed from his first serious scrutiny of the campaign to become the next Prime Minister, having cemented his status as the runaway leader in the second ballot of Tory MPs.

Mr Johnson’s rivals failed to land a serious blow on the former foreign secretary in a chaotic BBC TV debate last night.

The second round of the leadership contest saw Mr Johnson stretch his lead, but the momentum appears to be with outsider Rory Stewart, who leapt into fourth place after nearly doubling his vote.

Dominic Raab, the former Brexit secretary, was eliminated and home secretary Sajid Javid is resisting pressure to drop out after scraping through with the minimum number of votes.

The remaining five candidates for the Tory leadership debate during tonight's live TV event on the BBC. Picture: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire

A third leadership ballot will take place today, with the bottom candidate eliminated.

A disjointed and angry debate last night saw the five remaining candidates interrupt and attack one another, sparing Mr Johnson a four-on-one inquisition from his rivals. But under questioning from the host, Emily Maitlis, he did appear to row back from a tax policy announced only last week, saying it was “relevant to have a debate about tax thresholds” and failing to commit to a proposed tax cut for higher earners.

Mr Johnson said the plan to cut tax for those earning between £50,000 and £80,000 was an “ambition”.

And asked by Ms Maitlis whether he would allow a third runway at Heathrow airport to be built, having once claimed he would lie down in front of bulldozers to prevent it, Mr Johnson said: “I continue to have grave reservations about the Heathrow runway three ... court cases are now proceeding and as prime minister I will be following those very closely indeed.”

Mr Stewart appeared exasperated with his rivals, rolling his eyes and holding his head in his hands. Halfway through the debate, he took off his tie. He said he was “depressed” by promises of tax cuts, instead committing to invest in public services. “I’m not thinking about promises for the next 15 days, I’m thinking about the next 15 years,” Mr Stewart said.

On Brexit, the international development secretary was the only candidate to rule out a no-deal exit from the EU, saying any agreement had to go through the “door called parliament”.

Claiming that he was the only one with the key, Mr Stewart said: “All the other candidates are starting at the walls shouting ‘believe in Britain’.”

He came under fire from Michael Gove, who said Theresa May’s government had “run into that door three times”.

“We can’t serve the same cold porridge for a fourth time,” the environment secretary said.

Criticising Mr Johnson’s insistence the UK should leave the EU on 31 October come what may, Mr Hunt suggested that a farmer who would face crippling tariffs on his produce would tell him “Boris, you got your dream, you went to Number 10, but you’ve destroyed my dream”.

Mr Johnson claimed leaving by the Halloween Brexit date was “eminently feasible”, agreeing with Mr Javid there must be a deadline.

In response to a question about the Irish backstop, Mr Javid said he could solve the border issue using “existing technology”. The home secretary had a quiet debate, but succeeded in getting his rivals to accept an independent investigation into how the Conservative Party deals with allegations of Islamophobia.

With Mr Johnson appearing certain of a place in the final two, the contest has become a three-way battle for the right to a spot alongside him in the ballot of 160,000 Tory members, who will choose the next party leader and prime minister.

Mr Johnson secured 126 votes, adding 12 votes from the first round – 80 ahead of his nearest rival Jeremy Hunt on 46, who added just three. Mr Gove was in third place on 41 votes, an increase of four, while Rory Stewart was on 37 – 18 more than he won last week.

Candidates needed 33 votes to remain in the race – the exact number picked up by Mr Javid. Mr Raab secured just 30 votes. The result means Mr Stewart goes into today’s third ballot with a realistic chance of challenging for second place.

A spokesman for the Stewart campaign said: “This is a fantastic result for Rory – almost doubling his vote – with the biggest increase of all the candidates.

“This shows his momentum is continuing to build. He can now go all the way to the final two, giving the clear choice that members deserve.”

In the final hour of voting, Mr Stewart had told journalists he was “one or two votes off” and “right on the edge”. Tory MP Gillian Keegan, one of Mr Stewart’s supporters, said all the remaining challengers to Mr Johnson were “very close now”.

“There’s a clear winner and between the others there are not many votes,” Ms Keegan said, adding that Mr Stewart was “telling people the uncomfortable truth”.

Despite speculation that Mr Johnson, whose campaign is being whipped by the former defence secretary and Chief Whip to Theresa May Gavin Williamson, could lend votes to Mr Hunt to ensure he progresses to the final ballot of Tory members, the foreign secretary won just three more votes than in the first round.

A spokesman for Mr Hunt described it as a “solid result”. “It shows a steady step forward, which is exactly what we were expecting,” a spokesman said. “It confirms that Jeremy is the best placed candidate to take on Boris.”

Mr Gove picked up just four extra votes, but said he was “very pleased to have made it through and closed the gap to second”. In an apparent warning to Tories about the prospect of Mr Stewart, who voted Remain in 2016, making it through onto the final ballot paper, Mr Gove stressed: “The final two should be Brexiteers who are able to take on [Jeremy] Corbyn, unite the party and deliver Brexit.”

In an article in yesterday’s Times, Mr Gove hit out at Mr Stewart, suggesting he was a “polarising” candidate who would promote “blue-on-blue” infighting if he made the final run-off.