DOMINIC Raab has been eliminated in the second round of the Tory leadership contest.
Boris Johnson topped the poll once again, securing the backing of 126 MPs – but the most momentum was with International Development Secretary Rory Stewart.
Candidates needed to secure 33 votes to survive to the next round, with former Brexit secretary Raab only managing 30.
International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, who managed just 19 votes last week, won the backing of 37 MPs, keeping him in the race.
He was expected to be in a fight with Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who got 23 in the first round – Sajid secured 33 votes in round two.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Environment Secretary Michael Gove were the only candidates other than Johnson to secure more than 33 supporters in the first round.
Jeremy Hunt gained four supporters to move to 46 votes, and Gove gained four to move to 41.
The remaining candidates will appear in a BBC debate at 8pm tonight.
Javid is the only candidate left in the race not to have gone to Oxford University.
Further votes on Wednesday and Thursday will see two candidates selected for the final ballot of Tory members, with frontrunner Boris Johnson almost certain to be one of them.
Stewart's campaign has gathered momentum and won the backing of de facto deputy prime minister David Lidington, but he faces a difficult task to overhaul the vote tallies of rivals.
Johnson, the clear winner in the first round of voting, will face his first televised showdown of the campaign when he appears at the BBC debate later.
He has secured even more pledges of support – including former leadership rival Andrea Leadsom – since winning 114 votes last week.
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