The Bournemouth MP was suspended on Tuesday after failing to vote on a motion of no confidence in the government on Monday night because he was in Moldova. Ellwood, who chairs the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, was on a fact-finding mission to the country but was not authorized to skip Monday’s vote. As a result, he was stripped of the whip on Tuesday, preventing him from voting in the fourth ballot to narrow the candidates for the next party leader. However, amid predictions that Wednesday’s fifth and final round could be very close, Ellwood will take part. Some of Mordaunt’s supporters had previously suggested the move to disqualify him was an attempt to sway the result. A spokesman for the whip’s office said: “To ensure that the neutrality of the whip’s office in the leadership contest cannot be challenged, the whip has been temporarily suspended by Tobias Ellwood MP. “With the conclusion of today’s leadership contest, MP Tobias Ellwood will have the whip suspended.” Conservative MPs are given two hours to choose between the three remaining candidates, Mordan, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, in a secret ballot, with the result to be announced at 4pm. The last remaining couple will then go on to a series of races across the country as Tory party members prepare to make the final choice. Voting among members is expected to begin in early August, with the result announced on September 5. Mordaunt’s supporters are fighting for every last vote, with Truss seen as the most likely to win most of the 59 supporters of Kemi Badenoch, the right-wing candidate who was eliminated on Tuesday. Badenoch has repeatedly criticized Mordaunt’s stance on transgender rights, accusing her of misrepresenting her record as equality minister. But Mordaunt’s supporters have stressed the fact that unlike Truss, she represents a new beginning. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Sunak, the former chancellor, had been leading throughout the race, but as of Tuesday, he had not secured the 120 votes necessary to secure a place in the bottom two. He and Truss have clashed repeatedly over the Conservatives’ economic record in the two televised debates so far, with Truss claiming Sunak’s tax hikes risk triggering a recession and Sunak saying her unfunded promises of tax cuts equate to “socialism”.
