Tory five await poll result

Frontrunner Michael Portillo polled 49 votes in initial ballot

With voting now over the five contenders for the Conservative leadership will soon know which of them is the first to be knocked out of the race to succeed William Hague.

The first round that never was

Michael Portillo - 49

Iain Duncan Smith - 39

Ken Clarke - 36

David Davis - 21

Michael Ancram - 21

Tory MPs spent Thursday afternoon casting ballots in a second round re-match that will see the candidate with least support eliminated from the contest.

The battle to avoid ejection is expected to be between former party chairman Michael Ancram and former Europe minister David Davis, who came joint last in Tuesday's original poll, requiring a re-run.

The Daily Mail dealt a blow to Michael Portillo's campaign

The result of the poll of all 166 Tory MPs will be announced shortly after 1700 BST.

Frontrunner Michael Portillo will hope to regain some of the momentum he lost when he topped Tuesday's poll of Tory MPs but received fewer votes than expected.

His main challenger is Iain Duncan Smith, who has the backing of the Tory-supporting newspapers the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph.

He will be hoping to close the gap on Mr Portillo while pulling decisively ahead of former chancellor Ken Clarke for the crucial second place.

Arm-twisting

The campaign teams of all the contenders for the Tory crown were furiously lobbying colleagues right up to the last minute in the hope of wresting votes from their rivals.

Supporters of Mr Portillo and Mr Duncan Smith have predicted that their share of the vote could drop - though this is seen as at least partly a bid to keep expectations low.

Mr Clarke's supporters say their man's vote could increase - with most of the boost coming from Mr Ancram's previous support.

Portillo attacked

Before the ballot opened, the Tory-supporting Daily Mail dealt Mr Portillo a blow with a poll of 300 local Conservative association activists suggesting 58% of them did not want him as leader.

And the Daily Telegraph warned against backing candidates associated with the Major years.

Both Mr Portillo and Mr Clarke served in former prime minister John Major's cabinets.

The paper has instead backed the "fresh Mr Duncan Smith" who does not have the "positive disadvantage" of ministerial experience.

Mr Ancram was the first candidate to vote, and Mr Duncan Smith voted shortly afterwards.

Clarke votes early and often

Mr Clarke revealed he was casting two proxy votes for supporters who were unable to make it in person when he arrived at the committee room where the contest was being decided.

If the repeat ballot produces another last-place draw, both losers will be eliminated. The three survivors would go through to a final knock-out ballot held on Tuesday next week to produce a two-name shortlist.

But if as expected only one contender is eliminated, the balloting will go to a fourth round on Thursday next week.

The final shortlist of two will then be put to the party's entire 300,000 membership which will decide the winner. The victor will be announced on 12 September.