Rory Stewart still in race to become PM as Boris Johnson stretches lead

Five candidates are still in the running to become Prime Minister after Rory Stewart survived the second ballot of MPs in the Conservative Party leadership contest after, beating Home Secretary Sajid Javid into fourth place.

Six candidates went into Tuesday's second Conservative leadership ballot

Boris Johnson stretched his lead with 126 votes, ahead of Jeremy Hunt on 46, Michael Gove on 41, and Mr Stewart on 37.

Mr Javid scraped through, just meeting the threshold of 33 votes, while the former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab was eliminated after getting 30 votes.

It means Mr Johnson faces a tough examination in his first live televised debate this evening when he faces four MPs who have criticised his Brexit policy and his reluctance to take questions or campaign in public.

With Mr Johnson appearing certain of a place in the final two, the contest has become a 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.

Further ballots of MPs are planned on Wednesday and Thursday, to narrow the field of candidates to just two.

After the results were announced, Rory Stewart tweeted: "Thank you all so much! Looking forward to the debate tonight @BBCPolitics #RoryWalksOn"

He added: "And thank you for all the support - we seem to have almost doubled our vote again...more to come...#walkon"

Mark Francois, the vice chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of MPs - which has endorsed Mr Johnson - said: "It was great to see Boris going up again - that's obviously encouraging.

"In a sense it's a shame to lose Dominic Raab because he is an extremely capable politician. I hope whoever wins - and I hope it's Boris - will find a good place for Dom in his Cabinet."