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Sky News Say Televised Debate will be Cancelled as Boris Johnson Refuses to Take Part

Sky News have said that Boris Johnson has refused to accept an invitation to appear in a televised debate with Jeremy Hunt, which would have allowed both candidates to make their case to become leader of the Conservative Party.

Sky News said:

“Jeremy Hunt has agreed to take part, but Boris Johnson has so far declined the invitation. We stand ready to host a debate tomorrow evening if both candidates make themselves available.”

A spokesperson for Jeremy Hunt’s campaign team said:

“Whoever wants to be Prime Minister must face up now to the intense scrutiny that comes with the job, anything less is deeply disrespectful to our members. Trying to duck debates and run down the clock until after postal ballots have been returned is just cynical and complacent. Boris Johnson must stop trying to slink into No 10 through the back door and come clean about his programme for government.”

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Conservative Split After Boris Johnson Refuses to Explain Domestic Incident

Boris Johnson, one of the two candidates in the race to become leader of the Conservative Party, has said that he isn’t prepared to talk about a domestic incident at this property on Friday. Johnson said that “people don’t want to hear” about the incident and refused to comment when asked during an interview with Iain Dale.

Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for International Trade, said:

“I think it’s always easier to just give an explanation and the key thing is then how you get onto the issue”.

John Griffin, the second largest donor to the Conservative Party, said:

“We deserve an explanation about that row, and he has to handle it properly. He can’t assume that we are going to support him when he has not explained every detail”.

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Guardian Reports Disturbance at House of Boris Johnson

The Guardian newspaper has reported of a domestic disturbance at the property where Boris Johnson is currently living with his partner Carrie Symonds.

The newspaper reported:

“The neighbour said they recorded the altercation from inside their flat out of concern for Symonds. On the recording, heard by the Guardian, Johnson can be heard refusing to leave the flat and telling Symonds to “get off my fucking laptop” before there is a loud crashing noise.

Symonds is heard saying Johnson had ruined a sofa with red wine: “You just don’t care for anything because you’re spoilt. You have no care for money or anything.”

The neighbour said: “There was a smashing sound of what sounded like plates. There was a couple of very loud screams that I’m certain were Carrie and she was shouting to ‘get out’ a lot. She was saying ‘get out of my flat’ and he was saying no. And then there was silence after the screaming. My partner, who was in bed half asleep, had heard a loud bang and the house shook.””

Boris Johnson, who is currently favourite in the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister, refused to comment.

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Michael Gove Eliminated in Tory Leadership Contest

Michael Gove

Michael Gove has been eliminated in the final round of voting by MPs in the Conservative Party leadership contest. The result of the vote means that Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt will now go through to the final vote of members of the party, with the winner being announced in late July.

The voting in the fifth round was as follows:

Boris Johnson – 160 votes

Jeremy Hunt – 77 votes

Michael Gove – 75 votes

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Sajid Javid Eliminated in Tory Leadership Contest

Sajid Javid has been eliminated in the fourth round of the Conservative Party’s leadership contest. Boris Johnson again topped the poll and there will be another round of voting held today to select the final two candidates that will go forward to party members.

Boris Johnson – 157 votes

Michael Gove – 61 votes

Jeremy Hunt – 59 votes

Sajid Javid – 34 votes

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Rory Stewart Eliminated in Tory Leadership Contest

Rory Stewart has been eliminated from the race to become the leader of the Conservative Party following the fourth round of voting.

The votes cast were:

Boris Johnson – 143 votes

Jeremy Hunt – 54 votes

Michael Gove – 51 votes

Sajid Javid – 38 votes

Rory Stewart – 27 votes

The fourth, and if necessary the fifth, round of voting will take place on Thursday 20 June, with the top two candidates moving forward to a vote of party members.

Posting on Twitter, Rory Stewart said:

“I am so moved & inspired by the support I have received over the last few weeks – it has given me a new faith in politics, a new belief in our country. I didn’t get enough MPs to believe today – but they will 🙂 I remain deeply committed to you and to this country. #RoryWalksOn”

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Dominic Raab Eliminated in Tory Leadership Contest

Dominic Raab has been knocked out following the second round of voting in the Conservative Party leadership contest. Boris Johnson secured the most votes, but Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Rory Stewart and Sajid Javid have all made it through to the next round.

Boris Johnson – 126 votes

Jeremy Hunt – 46 votes

Michael Gove – 41 votes

Rory Stewart – 37 votes

Sajid Javid – 33 votes

Dominic Raab – 30 votes

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Deputy PM Backs Rory Stewart in Conservative Leadership Contest

Rory Stewart

David Lidington, the de facto Deputy Prime Minister, has unexpectedly given his support to Rory Stewart in the Conservative leadership contest. The move is expected to give a boost to Stewart’s campaign in the day before the second round of voting starts amongst MPs. Boris Johnson, the former Foreign Secretary, won the first round by a large margin and is still the favourite to win the contest.

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Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum Would Quit if Johnson Becomes PM

Mohammed Amin, the chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, has said that he would resign from his role if Boris Johnson becomes leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister. The group was founded in 2005 and aims to set out Conservative values to the Muslim community, as well as representing the views of the community to the party.

Amin said on BBC Radio:

“I have been a Conservative Party member for over 36 years. We don’t expect our politicians, our prime ministers, to be saints but we do require a basic level of morality and integrity. Of all of the candidates in the Conservative Party leadership election, Boris Johnson is the only one that I believe fails that test. And I’m not prepared to be a member of a party that chooses him as its leader.”

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Matt Hancock Withdraws from Conservative Leadership Contest

Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health, has withdrawn from the 2019 Conservative Party leadership contest. Hancock, who is the youngest candidate, came sixth in the first round and secured 20 votes. There are now six candidates remaining in the race to become leader of the party, with the second round of voting taking place on 18 June 2019.

Hancock said to the BBC:

“I’ve been incredibly encouraged and humbled by the amount of support that I’ve had in this campaign. I’ve tried to make the argument about the values that the Conservative Party needs to hold dear, of free enterprise and support for a free society and being open and optimistic and enthusiastic about the future.”