The first Tory leadership debate took place on live television on Friday evening. Hosted by journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy and broadcast on Channel 4, with streaming on All4, the event was watched by 7.4 million viewers.
Here’s how the papers ranked the winners and losers of the debate.
Winner
Loser
The Independent
Tom Tugendhat
Daily Mail
Tom Tugendhat
The New Statesman
Rishi Sunak
Liz Truss
The Telegraph
Rishi Sunak
The Guardian
Tom Tugendhat
The Spectator
Tom Tugendhat / Rishi Sunak
The Express
Tom Tugendhat
Bookie’s favourite at this stage is Penny Mordaunt
Channel 4 will host the first live television debate for candidates aiming to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and the country’s next Prime Minister, followed by ITV and then Sky.
Britain’s Next PM: The Conservative Leadership Debate will air on Channel 4 on Friday 15th July 2022 at 7pm GMT.
The debate will also be available to watch live on All4 and then on catch-up.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy hosts the debate with the candidates who are still in the running for the top job, facing questions from a studio audience of floating voters.
The Conservative leadership debate will air on ITV on Sunday 17th July 2022 at 7pm GMT.
The show will be available to watch live on ITV Hub and then on the streamer’s catch-up service following its airing.
The debate will be recorded at ITV’s White City Studios.
The channel previously aired a similar debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt when they were competing for Conservative Party leader in 2019.
The Conservative leadership debate will air on Sky News on Monday 18th July 2022.
The event will also be made available across Sky News’ digital channels and will be streamed on YouTube.
The debate will take place at the Sky News studios in West London and be presented by Kay Burley with questions from a virtual studio audience.
Suella Braverman has been eliminated in the second round of voting by MPs after receiving the fewest votes. She polled 27 votes, with the next lowest candidate, Tom Tugendhat, receiving 32 votes.
Her closest competitor is Liz Truss, who she nevertheless convincingly beats by 55% to 37%. She likewise firmly sees off Kemi Badenoch by 59% to 30%, and Rishi Sunak by 67% to 28%.
The following MPs announced that they would seek the leadership of the Conservative Party but subsequently did not stand, or withdrew from the race, due to insufficient support or other reasons:
Nominations will open and close on Tuesday 12 July, followed by a vote by MPs on Wednesday and a second on Thursday to whittle down the contenders to the final two – before the vote opens up to the membership and hustings begin.
Hopefuls will need to get at least 30 votes to make it into the second round.