Javid and Gove out of Tory leadership race

Good News! The Immigration-loving Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who is pushing for a soft-Brexit, has been dumped out of the Tory leadership race.

With all 313 MPs again casting votes, Johnson was once more the clear winner, on 157 votes, and in the later round, Michael Gove was knocked out, leaving Boris and Jeremy Hunt in the run-off.

The final two will now undertake a long series of hustings events with party members around the country before the winner takes over from Theresa May as Tory leader and prime minister on 22 July.

Penny Mordaunt, the defence secretary, said Hunt being in the final two would avoid the drama of a showdown between Johnson and Gove, who fell out over the 2016 leadership battle.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean the best entertainment for journalists, but for people who are going to focus on the issues, the policies, and set out a vision for the party,” she said.

A source in the Hunt camp said: “Boris and Michael are great candidates but we have seen their personal psychodrama before: it’s time to offer the country someone the EU will actually talk to.”

One of the challenges for Johnson will be to convince Tory members he is serious about making Brexit happen on 31 October.

While Boris is not to be trusted, the alternatives were much worse, Jeremy Hunt especially. We are counting our lucky stars today that the biggest threats to Brexit has been shown the door!