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Hunt, Johnson to square up for Tory leadership battle

By Frank Prenesti

Date: Thursday 20 Jun 2019

(Sharecast News) - The showdown to be the next leader of the UK boiled down on Thursday to a stark choice between the hard right Brexiteer Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt amid accusations of voting chicanery among MPs on Thursday.


Hunt finished a mere two votes ahead of the other pro-Leave flag-waver Michael Gove in the fifth and final ballot among MPs. Home Secretary Sajid Javid had been eliminated earlier on Thursday in the fourth round.

There were suggestions that Johnson's camp had "lent" Hunt votes to push Gove, widely regarded as a more serious threat to the former foreign secretary, into third place in the last round.

Johnson's vote increased by three between the fourth and fifth rounds to 160 in spite of at least four Javid supporters publicly declaring their backing for him, raising suspicions of tactical voting.

Both candidates will state their case before 140,000 party members in 16 hustings events and a televised debate.

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