Home Secretary Theresa May has taken pole position in the race to succeed David Cameron as prime minister, securing a comfortable advantage over her four rivals with the backing of 165 Conservative MPs in the first round of voting.
Former defence secretary Liam Fox was eliminated from the contest after winning the support of just 16 MPs.
Mrs May's tally amounted to exactly half of the 330 Conservative MPs, but was a majority of the 329 voting, guaranteeing her a place in the final run-off ballot of Conservative members unless she loses supporters to one of her rivals over the next few days.
Now attention turns to the battle for the second place on the ballot paper, with leading Brexit backer Andrea Leadsom taking 66 votes, Eurosceptic Justice Secretary Michael Gove 48 and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb 34.
The four remaining contenders are due to face a second MPs' vote on Thursday, followed by a final round next Tuesday unless any of the candidates has dropped out by that time.
The two candidates who top the final round of MPs' votes will go forward to a postal ballot of party members to select a new Conservative leader - and prime minister - in a contest due to end on September 9.
Welcoming her victory, Mrs May said: "I am pleased with this result, and very grateful to my colleagues for their support today.
"There is a big job before us: to unite our party and the country, to negotiate the best possible deal as we leave the EU, and to make Britain work for everyone.
"I am the only candidate capable of delivering these three things as Prime Minister, and tonight it is clear that I am also the only one capable of drawing support from the whole of the Conservative party.
"I look forward to continuing the debate about Britain's future - in Parliament and across the country."
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon blasts use of EU citizens living in Scotland as Brexit negotiating chip
Mrs May's dominant first-round performance and energy minister Mrs Leadsom's strong showing in second place will put intense pressure on Mr Gove and Mr Crabb to stand aside and allow an all-woman run-off.
Despite her overwhelming support among MPs, Mrs May will be all too aware that in the two previous contests conducted under the present rules, initial frontrunners Kenneth Clarke and David Davis went on to be rejected by grassroots members.
As a supporter of the Remain vote in last month's EU referendum, the Home Secretary is vulnerable to claims by Eurosceptic rivals that the largely Brexit-backing membership requires a leader who actively campaigned to Leave.
And she has faced criticism over her refusal to give firm assurances that European Union nationals would be allowed to remain in the UK and was accused by former Cabinet colleague Ken Clarke of being a "bloody difficult woman" with little knowledge of foreign policy.
READ MORE: Labour MP Tom Watson makes last-ditch effort to avoid civil war over Jeremy Corbyn leadership
In unguarded comments caught on camera by Sky News, Mr Clarke discussed the leadership candidates with fellow Tory veteran Sir Malcolm Rifkind, saying: "Theresa is a bloody difficult woman but you and I worked with Margaret Thatcher."
He added: "I don't think either Andrea Leadsom or Boris Johnson actually are in favour of leaving the European Union."
The two Tory veterans were scathing about Mr Gove, with Sir Malcolm saying "I don't mind who wins as long as Gove comes third", while Mr Clarke warned if the hawkish Justice Secretary was in Number 10 "we'd go to war with at least three countries at once".
In a statement accepting his elimination, Dr Fox said: "I am very grateful to those colleagues who supported me in the ballot today.
"Naturally, I am disappointed not to progress further but I do not regret standing in this contest. I felt it was vital to stress the importance of national security in this debate and the need for a clear path to our exit from the European Union. I hope I have achieved both these objectives.
"I have also sought to stress the need for experience as the successful candidate will have to take up the reins of government in less than nine weeks. I will make a statement about my intentions in due course."
Following the result, Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb has dropped out of the race and backed frontrunner Theresa May.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel