Attorney general Suella Braverman has been knocked out of the Conservative Party leadership race after finishing last in the latest round of voting.
The Brexiteer received only 27 votes, putting her bottom of the pile behind the other five contenders.
Rishi Sunak maintained his lead after the second ballot of Tory MPs, finishing top with 101 votes - 13 more than in yesterday’s first round.
Penny Mordaunt finished second with 83 votes, up 16 from yesterday, while Liz Truss came third with 64, 14 more than the previous round.
Kemi Badenoch was in fourth with the support of 49 MPs, up from 40 in the last round, while Tom Tugendhat won the backing of 32, down from 37.
The remaining five candidates will now enter the third round of voting, which will take place on Monday.
The result is another boost for Mordaunt, who is seen to be fighting Truss for the chance to take on Sunak in the final run-off.
Despite his disappointing result, Tugendhat insisting he was not giving in.
He tweeted: “We need trust back in our politics. I will be putting my vision for Britain forward to the public at the TV debates next week.”
Truss supporter Simon Clarke said the next round of voting will be “critical” for the foreign secretary’s hopes of succeeding Boris Johnson as prime minister.
He said: “This is very much on trajectory for our expectations.
“There was good, solid momentum today, we’re moving forward and the next round is the critical one for us.”
Former chief whip Mark Harper, who is supporting Sunak, said his campaign would continue to “focus on competence and the economic agenda”.
He said: “People realise we can’t just go spraying money around.
“Being honest with people and realistic about the challenges is the message that people are moving onto.”