Former British Chancellor Rishi Sunak won the most support in the third round of voting to find a replacement for Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday.
MP Tom Tugendhat was eliminated.
In the third round of the Tory leadership contest, Sunak got 115 votes, Penny Mordaunt 82, Liz Truss 71, Kemi Badenoch 58 and Tugendhat just 31.
Meanwhile senior Conservatives have expressed concern about the increasingly bitter leadership race after claims were made that Ms Mordaunt missed ministerial meetings because she was plotting her Tory leadership bid.
The trade minister’s absence from meetings forced colleagues to pick up the pieces, International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan alleged in a scathing attack on the leadership hopeful. She was backing Mr Tugendhat before his elimination tonight.
In a sign of the concern about the way the leadership race is being conducted, campaign frontrunner Sunak and Ms Truss confirmed they did not want to take part in a Sky News debate planned for Tuesday – prompting the broadcaster to cancel the show.
“Conservative MPs are said to be concerned about the damage the debates are doing to the image of the Conservative Party, exposing disagreements and splits within the party,” a Sky statement said.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he is “astonished” by candidates withdrawing from the debate, arguing that it demonstrates a lack of “confidence”.
The leadership contenders have already taken part in debates on Channel 4 and ITV which have seen the would-be prime ministers taking primetime pot shots at each other.
Ms Mordaunt’s record in office came in for further attack from Ms Trevelyan on LBC Radio on Monday morning.
Asked about Ms Mordaunt’s grasp of details, Ms Trevelyan said: “We all do our jobs in different ways.
“Understandably, perhaps, now it’s clear, Penny has for the last few months spent some of her time focused on preparing her leadership campaign, for which I have utmost respect, that’s how this system works.”