Tory leadership: round 1 (voting closed)

Conservative MPs have finished voting in the first round of the election to choose a new leader. They had to choose from four candidates, Malcolm Rifkind having dropped out of the contest last week. The result of the first round of voting will be announced in the next 20 minutes. However, rumours are circulating that David Davis and David Cameron are safely through to the next round. Speculation is rife that Liam Fox has scraped into third place. If true, this will mean that Kenneth Clarke will finish in last place and will therefore drop out of the contest. I know what I have said in the past about Kenneth Clarke, but if this is true, I for one will be sad to see him leave frontline politics. Having thought about the matter for a while, I would prefer the final two candidates to be David Cameron and Kenneth Clarke. They are the two candidates who are most able to reach out to the non-traditional Tory voters that the party needs.

Still, it is good to see the media all a-frenzy over the Conservative Party leadership election. It shows that the party is not irrelevant, and that everyone, even the BBC, realises that we need a proper Opposition.

The results will be announced shortly, so there will be more later tonight from this blog.