Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss are mounting a final dash for votes in the battle to go head-to-head with Rishi Sunak to be the next Tory leader and prime minister.
Conservative MPs will vote on who they want to be in the final run-off between 1pm and 3pm today, with the result being announced at 4pm.
Kemi Badenoch became the latest candidate to be knocked out yesterday, leaving Sunak, Mordaunt and Truss battling it out for the final two spots.
Former chancellor Sunak received 118 votes, virtually guaranteeing his place in the last two, with Mordaunt on 92 and Truss on 86.
Much will depend on where Badenoch’s 59 supporters go in today’s round, but one Mordaunt supporter told HuffPost UK: “It will be a close result.”
With many of Badenoch’s backers coming from the right of the party, the expectation in Westminster is that most of them will switch to Truss, incresasing her chances of pipping Mordaunt to the post.
One former cabinet minister said: “Team Penny is working hard. Kemi’s supporters were a pretty eclectic bunch so maybe one there is one last surprise in this race yet - but I’m not betting on it.”
A Mordaunt campaign source mounted a direct attack on Truss, saying she would lose the next general election if she became leader.
“Today is about continuity versus change for the Conservative Party,” the source said.
“Penny’s been speaking with colleagues already this morning and so many of Tom [Tugendhat] and Kemi’s backers are calling out for change. As the only one not in Johnson’s cabinet, Penny is the sole MP left in the race who offers the party and country a genuine fresh start.
“MPs, party members, and voters across the country are crying out for something new but only Penny Mordaunt can deliver that.
“Liz Truss will not be able to win a general election and would put MPs’ seats at risk.”
Treasury secretary Simon Clarke, who is backing Truss, told Sky News: “Liz is within touching distance of those final two spots, at which point this reverts to the membership of the Conservative Party to choose our next prime minister.”
Asked whether he believed Sunak supporters could lend their votes to Mordaunt in a bid to scupper Truss’s chances, he said: “I’ve no insight into any of this. My only goal is to make sure that the best candidate goes forward to the members and in my view that’s Liz.
“We have been purely focused on making the best case to our colleagues and we want to continue that hard work into today to make sure Liz makes into those final two slots and gets to make her case to the membership.”
He added: “All I’m focused on today is to make sure we make the case to as many colleagues as possible that if they want a robust plan for economic growth, if they want increased defence spending, if they want clear action on the climate then they should be voting for Liz.”