The outcome of the Conservative Party leadership race for Britain’s next prime minister was hanging on a knife edge on Wednesday after the fourth ballot of MPs.
The fight for second spot is now difficult to determine, with Liz Truss potentially edging ahead of Penny Mordaunt as the favourite.
Whoever wins that race will almost certainly be up against Rishi Sunak but with the latest polling showing that both women are far ahead of beating the former chancellor among the Conservative membership, either could end up as prime minister.
Key to whoever wins that race will be how the 59 MPs who backed Kemi Badenoch decide to vote. There is some expectation that the majority of them will go for the Foreign Secretary Ms Truss, who attracted a significant 15 new backers taking her to 86 votes.
She is now only six votes behind the early favourite Ms Mordaunt, whose vote base increased by 10 to 92.
Mr Sunak landed a marginal three vote increase in his share, achieving 118 backers which would leave him only two short of achieving the magic 120 needed to guarantee a second round spot.
Those supporting Ms Badenoch are thought to be a mixed group of MPs and it is unclear which way their 59 votes will be split between the three remaining candidates.
Ms Mordaunt had been expected to receive the majority of Tom Tugendhat’s 31 votes after he was eliminated on Monday but it did not turn out that way.
The three candidates made their final pitches to MPs before Wednesday's vote, with Mr Sunak promising Tory members that he would keep wind farms away from their homes even as he promised to pursue energy independence by 2045.
Ms Mordaunt made a raft of policy statements including plans for a tougher line on China, digitalisation of the public sector, reforms to the housing market and powers to stop the release of violent criminals.
And Ms Truss put her focus on tax cuts and bringing down the cost of living, in an article for the Daily Telegraph in which she said she was the "only person who can deliver the change... in line with true Conservative principles".
To guarantee a spot in the last two, Ms Mordaunt, a former defence secretary, will need half of Ms Badenoch’s votes.
But there is also the possibility that some MPs may well change their minds at the last minute, making the outcome unpredictable even for Mr Sunak.
“Tomorrow’s vote is what I refer to as ‘moving day’, in which everyone will decide who they don’t want rather than who do they want,” said the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, who backs Ms Truss. “Momentum matters in this contest and I’m sorry for Kemi that she is out — this is a really brutal business — but I think momentum is with Liz now.”
With the margins so tight, each vote counts and the unexpected removal of the party whip from Tobias Ellwood for not attending Monday’s no-confidence vote could be significant.
Mr Ellwood, who was in Moldova for discussions on the Ukraine war but not on official government business, will not be eligible to vote.
He was an outspoken critic of Mr Johnson’s leadership and removing the whip is considered a final act of revenge.
The outcome for the final pair will be announced at 4pm on Wednesday. The contest is then opened up to the estimated 160,000 Tory membership who will vote by postal ballot with the winner declared on September 5.
Badenoch goes from unknown to real prospect
The rise of Kemi Badenoch and her growing popularity among grass root Conservatives had been a remarkable revelation in the Tory leadership contest.
The 42-year-old came from being virtually unknown to nationwide recognition during the television debates in which her no-nonsense straight talking won praise.
This drew the Conservative heavyweight thinker Michael Gove to act as a campaign chief, realising the prospect of a rising star.
“She has three qualities which are what any new leader or any new prime minister will need — courage, conviction and clarity,” he told a Policy Exchange event on Tuesday.
Ms Badenoch, whose parents are Nigerian, is unrepentantly right wing — hard on immigration, uncompromising on the deportations of illegal asylum seekers to Rwanda and anti-woke.
The MP for Saffron Walden, Essex, who was in a tranche of ministers who resigned over Boris Johnson’s lack of integrity, set out her thinking in a widely read piece in The Times.
“People are exhausted by platitudes and empty rhetoric,” she wrote, adding that “an intellectual grasp of what is required to run the country" is missing.
She also lamented the decline of the West. “Without change the Conservative Party, Britain and the western world will continue to drift" and rivals will "outpace us economically and outmanoeuvre us internationally”, she wrote.
Her rise is also an interesting commentary on the diversity of the Conservative Party, which has traditionally been a white, male-dominated party. It will now either have a female or ethnic minority man as its next leader and prime minister.
UK Conservatives on the leadership campaign trail - in pictures
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
RESULT
Deportivo La Coruna 2 Barcelona 4
Deportivo: Perez (39'), Colak (63')
Barcelona: Coutinho (6'), Messi (37', 81', 84')
Zayed Sustainability Prize
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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'Brazen'
Director: Monika Mitchell
Starring: Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Colleen Wheeler
Rating: 3/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs: 2019 Cadillac XT4
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Brescia 1 (Skrinia og, 76)
Inter Milan 2 (Martinez 33, Lukaku 63)
