After a dramatic day in Westminster, just eight candidates will fight it out to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

Three hopefuls were forced to end their campaigns early yesterday, while another hotly tipped potential contender stunned colleagues by ruling herself out. 

The race is now between Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi.

However, there were claims of "dirty tricks" in the contest, with allegations that the Sunak campaign had syphoned off of some votes to allow Hunt to get the 20 backers needed to make it on to the ballot paper. 

"This is dirty tricks/a stitch up/dark arts. Take your pick," Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted. "Team Rishi want the candidate they know they can definitely beat in the final two and that is @Jeremy_Hunt."

The former health secretary rejected the claim: "We are running completely independent campaigns,” Mr Hunt told LBC radio.

“It’s a very dangerous game to play and so I think most people would be very wary before doing that sort of thing. I’m not saying it never happens.”

The first round of voting will take place on Wednesday afternoon, with the results expected at around 3.30pm.

Any candidate who receives fewer than 30 votes from the 358 Tory MPs will be eliminated. If all candidates reach that number, then the one with the fewest votes will be out of the contest.

Rounds of voting continue over the next week until just two candidates remain. It will then be up to party members to pick the winner.

Just minutes before the deadline for nominations closed at 6pm on Tuesday, former health secretary Sajid Javid was forced to withdraw after failing to secure enough support. 

In a short statement, he said he looked “forward to seeing the debate unfold and to see colleagues working together as a united Conservative party once the leadership election is concluded.”

Rank outsider Rehman Chishti was also forced to quit the contest right at the deadline, while transport secretary Grant Shapps admitted defeat first thing in the morning. He later gave his backing to Mr Sunak. 

Earlier in the day, Home Secretary Priti Patel ruled herself out of the contest.

Her decision not to stand comes after close allies had talked up her chances. Thirteen Tory MPs - including education minister Andrea Jenkyns and the justice minister Tom Pursglove - had already publicly backed her for the job.

In a statement, Ms Patel said that while she was “grateful for the encouragement and support” of colleagues, “I will not be putting my name forward for the ballot of MPs”.

Three of the candidates staged campaign launches yesterday, with the biggest and glitziest being Mr Sunak’s.

The former Chancellor used his speech to take a swipe at the economic policies of his rivals.

“It is not credible to promise lots more spending and lower taxes,” he told colleagues.

He promised that he would get the tax burden down, but only “once we have gripped inflation.”

“It is a question of when not if”.

Despite helping to topple the current Prime Minister with his unexpected resignation last week, he opened his speech by praising Boris Johnson saying he was “one of the most remarkable people I have ever met.”

“Did I disagree with him? Frequently. Is he flawed? Yes, and so are the rest of us,” he added.

His campaign was given a boost with Dominic Raab, the deputy Prime Minister, offering his support. 

He told Tory MPs that his ex-cabinet colleague was best placed to stop a Labour government propped by the Lib Dems and the SNP.

He said the “threat of the SNP breaking up the UK is real” and that there was “no time to learn on the job.”

Two of Boris Johnson’s closest allies threw their weight behind Liz Truss.
Ms Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg said the foreign secretary was a “stronger Brexiteer” than either of them.

Asked if she was the “stop Rishi” candidate, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Liz Truss is the best candidate. She’s a proper Eurosceptic. She will deliver for the voters. She’ll deliver for the voters. She believes in low taxation.”

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Tom Tugendhat formally launched his bid with a promise to offer “leadership with a renewed sense of mission” and a “clean start”.

He told prospective backers he would cut fuel tax by 10p a litre.

Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch launched her campaign with a vow to reduce the size of the state.

The Equalities Minister said taxpayers’ cash could be saved by stopping police from wasting “time and resources worrying about hurt feelings online.”

She told supporters: “The truth that limited government - doing less but better - is the best way to restore faith in government has been forgotten, as we pandered to pressure groups and caved in to every campaigner with a moving message

“That has made the government agenda into a shopping list of disconnected, unworkable and unsustainable policies.”

"This is dirty tricks/a stitch up/dark arts. Take your pick," the culture secretary tweeted. "Team Rishi want the candidate they know they can definitely beat in the final two and that is @Jeremy_Hunt."