Thousands of Tory party members call for Boris Johnson to be included on final leadership ballot

It comes as Kemi Badenoch was eliminated from the race on Tuesday 

Thousands of Conservative Party members have backed a petition calling for Boris Johnson to be included on the final leadership ballot. The number of contenders to replace the Prime Minister was whittled down to three today after Kemi Badenoch became the latest candidate to get knocked out. It leaves just Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt left in the race, with a strong showing for Truss in this round likely to propel her into the final two. But rather than the contest being a head-to-head, as is the norm, a large group of Conservative Party members are calling on Johnson to be included to make it a three horse race. According to the Telegraph's politics newsletter, more than 1,800 members have written to the Tory party chairman in less than 12 hours to demand a vote on whether Johnson should carry on as leader. The members - all of whom have to give their membership numbers when they sign up - are backing a petition organised by Tory donor Lord Cruddas and former Conservative MEP David Campbell-Bannerman. Lord Cruddas told Christopher "Chopper" Hope that: "The membership wants the option of voting for Boris on the final ballot. "We think it is only fair because Boris was the members choice back in 2019 and he has been constructively removed by the Parliamentary Party without referral to the membership. "By adding Boris to the final ballot to make it a three horse race means that the winner will have the backing of the membership. "There will be no ambiguity around the result and the final choice of leader will have integrity." Related links:

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