Allow Exco Player content
This content is provided by Exco Player and may use cookies or similar technologies. Please click 'Allow and Continue' below to load the content.
Boris Johnson and his rivals in the Tory leadership race today face a double elimination before the contest enters its final phase.
Frontrunner Mr Johnson appeared almost certain to make it onto the deciding ballot after coming out on top in each of the three rounds so far.
Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove and Sajid Javid also remain in the battle for the crown, but two rounds of voting later will whittle the field down to a final pairing.
At each round the MP with the lowest total will be eliminated, with the final announcement due to be made at 6pm. By close of play there will be just two candidates left in the contest.
Rory Stewart was eliminated on Wednesday EPAThe next Tory leader and prime minister will be chosen by Conservative members next month from the two candidates that make it through.
Sources in Mr Johnson's camp played down a Daily Telegraph report that his supporters might lend their votes to Mr Javid in order to knock Mr Gove out of the contest.
Mr Gove's decision to stand for the leadership in 2016 effectively torpedoed Mr Johnson's campaign then and the wounds have not healed.
But Brexiteer MP Andrea Jenkyns, who is backing Mr Johnson, told ITV's Peston there would be "some poetic justice" if the bitter rivals were in the final run-off
Boris Johnson, the frontrunner in the contest, leaves his home in London AFP/Getty ImagesShe said that although there were "tricks going on" in the contest, Mr Johnson's campaign was not to blame.
In Wednesday's ballot, Mr Johnson received 143 votes, up from 126 on Tuesday, with Mr Hunt on 54, up from 46.
Mr Gove was in third place, up 10 from 41 to 51 votes, while Mr Javid picked up five extra votes to reach 38.
Rory Stewart was eliminated from the contest after his tally fell from 37 to 27 and he suggested there had been "shenanigans" in the run-up to the ballot.
Conservative Party leadership contenders engage in a live television debateAFP/Getty ImagesBut after the result he told Peston: "I don't think it was dirty tricks by Boris.
Read More
"I think what happened is that somehow some combination of my message and momentum convinced the other camps to tighten up, so I think most of my votes will have gone to Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and some to Sajid."
Amid speculation that Mr Javid has his eyes on becoming Mr Johnson's chancellor, the Home Secretary insisted his sights were set on Number 10 and he was "in it to win it".
Mr Hunt said he was the person best-placed to take on Mr Johnson, promising to put his "heart and soul" into the contest.
"The stakes are too high to allow anyone to sail through untested," he said.