Penny Mordaunt has been voted out of the Tory leadership race after receiving the lowest number of votes in the final MPs' ballot, sending Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss through to the final.

Ms Mordaunt crashed out with 105 backers to Ms Truss's 113 and Mr Sunak's 137.

Around 200,000 Tory members will now vote during the next six weeks as Mr Sunak and Ms Truss campaign across the country.

Ms Mordaunt, the international trade minister, said: "'I pay tribute to anyone who puts themselves forward for such a demanding role. Politics isn’t easy. 'It can be a divisive and difficult place. We must all now work together to unify our party and focus on the job."

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