JEREMY Hunt will challenge Boris Johnson for No10 after beating Michael Gove by just two votes in the nail-biting final round of MPs' votes tonight.

The Foreign Secretary now takes on the top Brexiteer in a historic vote of party activists with the winner becoming PM next month.

10 Jeremy Hunt will take on Boris Johnson in the battle for No10 Credit: London News Pictures

10 Boris Johnson is the heavy favourite to be the next Prime Minister Credit: London News Pictures

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Boris Johnson - the runaway favourite - is widely rumoured to have launched a dirty tricks campaign to keep Mr Gove out of the final two.

In the fifth and final ballot of MPs, Mr Johnson took 160 votes - more than half of the total - with Mr Hunt on 77, just ahead of Mr Gove who won the backing of 75 Tories.

Mr Hunt tonight admitted he will be the "underdog" with bookies giving him odds of 9/1 as Boris is on 1/12.

The Environment Secretary, who led the Vote Leave campaign alongside Boris, was initially seen as the best-placed contender to take on Mr Johnson.

But his campaign efforts were damaged by revelations he took cocaine as a journalist, stalling his momentum and driving supporters to other candidates.

FAIR AND SQUARE?

Boris Johnson's team have been accused of manipulating the race to ensure that Mr Hunt, not Mr Gove, made it to the final two because he would find it harder to win over grassroots activists who strongly back Brexit.

At least four supporters of Sajid Javid, who was eliminated this morning, publicly endorsed Boris - but his vote count rose by just three, suggesting that other BoJo backers had switched to Mr Hunt in a case of tactical voting.

Trade Secretary Liam Fox joked: "There's more churn here than an average washing machine."

Mr Johnson and his supporters have long resented Mr Gove for scuppering his chances of becoming PM in 2016, stabbing him in the back after they led the Leave campaign together.

Nick Boles, who recently quit as a Tory MP, accused Boris' campaign manager Gavin Williamson of rigging the vote to put Mr Hunt through ahead of Mr Gove.

But Dominic Raab insisted: "Boris won fair and square." And Mel Stride, Mr Gove's right-hand man, said: "If [vote fixing] did happen they were rather brilliant in getting it down to just a margin of two."

Conor Burns, a close ally of Mr Johnson, added: "The whole team had the message from Boris - no p**sing around, we wanted at every stage to make progress, we wanted to go to the country with more than half of the parliamentary Conservative party voting for Boris."

I'm the underdog - but in politics surprises happen Jeremy Hunt

Boris said this evening: "I’m deeply honoured to have secured more than 50 per cent of the vote in the final ballot. Thank you to everyone for your support!

"I look forward to getting out across the UK and to set out my plan to deliver Brexit, unite our country, and create a brighter future for all of us."

And Mr Hunt wrote on Twitter: "I'm the underdog - but in politics surprises happen as they did today.

"I do not doubt the responsibility on my shoulders - to show my party how we deliver Brexit and not an election, but also a turbo-charged economy and a country that walks tall in the world."

Labour's Andrew Gwynne blasted: "What a choice: the man who broke the NHS or the man who wants to sell it to Donald Trump.

"A handful of unrepresentative Conservative members should not be choosing our next Prime Minister. People should decide through a General Election."

The two candidates will face off at 16 sets of hustings in front of party members, starting this Saturday in Birmingham.

And tonight it was announced they'll take part in a head-to-head debate on ITV on July 9.

Mr Gove said tonight: "Naturally disappointed but so proud of the campaign we ran. Huge thanks to my brilliant campaign team. It’s been an honour to be able to set out a vision for the future of our great country. Many congratulations to Boris and Jeremy!"

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I’m deeply honoured to have secured more than 50 per cent of the vote in the final ballot. Thank you to everyone for your support! I look forward to getting out across the UK and to set out my plan to deliver Brexit, unite our country, and create a brighter future for all of us. pic.twitter.com/i5D4ByurAM — Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 20, 2019

I'm the underdog - but in politics surprises happen as they did today. I do not doubt the responsibility on my shoulders - to show my party how we deliver Brexit and not an election, but also a turbo-charged economy and a country that walks tall in the world — Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) June 20, 2019

GOING FOURTH

Earlier today Sajid Javid dropped out of the race, coming last in the fourth ballot which took place this morning.

Mr Hunt and Mr Gove then spent the afternoon frantically trying to win over supporters of the defeated Home Secretary - ahead of the fifth and final round of voting which started at 3.30pm and closed at 5.30pm.

Backers of Mr Gove made a failed last-ditch bid to win over Boris supporters - saying they should switch to ensure the final two are both Leave voters.

Mr Stride sent a text to MPs saying: "I know you backed Boris in earlier rounds but he is now secure in the final run-off.

"The contest is now about which other candidate should be put to members and I wanted to ask you to consider supporting Michael Gove now so that we can have two Brexiteers in the final run-off."

In the fourth ballot Boris Johnson took just over half the votes with 157 out of a total of 313, with Michael Gove second on 61 and Jeremy Hunt just behind him with 59 supporters.

Mr Javid dropped out of the race after a widely praised campaign, as he picked up just 34 votes - a slight fall compared to yesterday's third ballot.

For the first time in this leadership race, two MPs spoiled their ballots rather than pick one of the remaining candidates - apparently backers of Rory Stewart who refuse to support anyone else.

In the fifth ballot, there was just one spoiled ballot, suggesting one of the abstainers had had a change of plan.

Sajid Javid - who won't publicly say which candidate he's backing - said: "I have been truly humbled by the support I have received from colleagues and Conservatives around the country."

And in a message to young children growing up as outsiders like he did, the Home Secretary added: "Work hard, have faith in your abilities, and don't let anyone try and cut you down to size or say you aren't a big enough figure to aim high."

10 Michael Gove was eliminated in the final ballot Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

10 Sajid Javid was today kicked out of the leadership race Credit: London News Pictures

10 Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt pictured leaving a Cabinet meeting in No10 last year Credit: PA:Press Association

Earlier today Boris landed the endorsement of Mr Osborne, his former rival, who used his Evening Standard newspaper to come out in support of the frontrunner.

The former Chancellor warned: "To avoid the fate of the outgoing Prime Minister, who laboured in office but not in power, he must harness the credibility he has with Brexiteers to the liberal internationalist credentials he displayed as Mayor."

And he suggested Mr Johnson could end up calling a second Brexit referendum to break the Brexit deadlock - which would be a bitter blow for many of his supporters.



JOKE'S OVER

Boris promised to get serious if he's elected leader, telling the Evening Standard: "I do think it is time we had some excitement back into politics, I do, but there’s also quite a serious job of work to be done."

He acknowledged his status as the heavy favourite but insisted: "We are by no means there yet. This movement is going to have to build."

And vowing to unite the country, Mr Johnson added: "I think we can recruit voters from everywhere.

"I think many Labour voters have no interest in the metropolitan obsessions of Jeremy Corbyn with Venezuela or, you know, neo-Marxist economics. The Corbynista anti-Semitism leaves people totally bewildered and cold."

Yesterday Mr Stewart, who was knocked out after going backwards in the third ballot, accused Mr Johnson's team of "dark arts".

This morning he promised to stay quiet about which candidate he now supports.

Today European leaders - who are meeting in Brussels along with Theresa May - fired a fresh warning shot at BoJo's Brexit plan, which would see a two-year transition period in place to give extra time for a better deal.

Timetable of Tory leadership election which will pick new PM June 20, morning: Fourth ballot of MPs, open 10am-12pm; Sajid Javid eliminated June 21, afternoon: Fifth and last ballot of MPs, open 3.30pm-5pm; Michael Gove eliminated June 22: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt take part in first members' hustings in Birmingham July 8: Tory bosses send out postal votes to all party activists July 9: Boris and Hunt go head-to-head in ITV live debate July 22: Result announced this week, in time for Commons recess to begin

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Dutch PM Mark Rutte said: "As Boris Johnson would say, Brexit is Brexit. I would say a hard Brexit is a hard Brexit. I don't see how you can sweeten it."

And Ireland's Leo Varadkar added: "There's no Withdrawal Agreement without a backstop and there's no implementation period without a withdrawal agreement."

The Sun revealed that Boris has told the other contenders he "hardly" disagrees with them on the EU, sparking fears he'll water down his policy.

Tory leadership candidates threaten to boycott future BBC debates TORY leadership hopefuls have threatened to boycott future BBC debates after the corporation was slammed for featuring questions from an ex-Labour worker and an imam accused of anti-Semitic tweets. Furious MPs accused the Beeb of bias after it was revealed they failed to vet their audience on the Tuesday night telly debate. One of those who was chosen to ask a question had a history of alleged anti-Semitic remarks and attacking Boris Johnson, while another used to work for the Labour party. The BBC have plans for a Question Time style programme with the final two candidates later on in the contest. All four remaining candidates' camps expressed reservations about the BBC's handling of the next debate and suggested they would prefer a debate with ITV, Sky or Channel 4 instead. A source close to Boris said: "Candidates will now be casting doubt on the format and the balance and impartiality of the BBC audience." A source close to Jeremy Hunt said: "We are reserving judgment but it's fair to say we didn't think it was brilliant." A source on Michael Gove's campaign team said: "It is deeply concerning that the BBC failed to properly vet those asking questions and provided a platform for someone who has spread anti-Semitic messages. The BBC should apologise." Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said the BBC appeared to be a "stop Boris Johnson Broadcasting Service" and Radio 4 looked like it was now "Remain Central". "Tuesday's debate was a shambles," he added.

10 Boris Johnson came top in the final ballot of Tory MPs Credit: Evening Standard

10 The result was announced by Tory bosses in a wood-panelled Commons committee room Credit: PA:Press Association

10 Rory Stewart was knocked out yesterday Credit: AFP or licensors

Rory Stewart is eliminated from the Conservative leadership campaign after the third round of voting as Boris Johnson tops the poll with 143 votes

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