Penny Mordaunt supporter Tobias Ellwood has temporarily been given back the Conservative whip to allow him to vote in Wednesday’s critical final round of the leadership contest. The Bournemouth MP was disciplined on Tuesday after failing to vote in a motion of no confidence in the government on Monday evening, because he was in Moldova. Ellwood, who is chair of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, was on a fact-finding mission to the country, but did not have permission to skip Monday’s vote. As a result, he was stripped of the whip on Tuesday, preventing him from voting in the fourth ballot to narrow down candidates to be the next party leader. But amid predictions that Wednesday’s fifth and final round could be very close, Ellwood will be allowed to take part. Some of Mordaunt’s supporters had previously suggested the move to exclude him was an attempt to influence the result. A spokesperson for the whips’ office said: “To ensure that the whips’ office neutrality in the leadership contest can not be questioned, the whip has been temporarily unsuspended from Tobias Ellwood MP. “Upon the conclusion of today’s leadership contest, Tobias Ellwood MP will have the whip suspended.” Conservative MPs are being given two hours to choose between the three remaining candidates, Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, in a secret ballot, with the result due to be announced at 4pm. The final pair remaining will then go forward to a series of hustings being held around the country, as Tory party members prepare to make the final choice. Voting among members is expected to open in early August, with the result announced on 5 September. Mordaunt’s supporters are fighting for every last vote, with Truss deemed more likely to win over most of the 59 backers of Kemi Badenoch, the rightwing candidate who was eliminated on Tuesday. Badenoch repeatedly criticised Mordaunt’s stance on trans rights, accusing her of being misleading about her record as equalities minister. But Mordaunt’s backers have been stressing the fact that unlike Truss, she represents a fresh start.
Sunak, the former chancellor, has been the frontrunner throughout the race, but as of Tuesday, had not secured the 120 votes necessary to secure a place in the final two. He and Truss clashed repeatedly over the Conservatives’ economic record in the two televised debates held so far, with Truss claiming Sunak’s tax increases risk sparking a recession, and Sunak saying her unfunded promises of tax cuts amount to “socialism”.