Bookies back Badenoch in final two crunch

The countdown for the two Tory leadership finalists is on – and in just over an hour the Conservative party membership will know who their ultimate choice will be between. Tuesday’s knock-out round saw Tom Tugendhat drop back to a distant fourth place, with a ten-point gap separating him from his competitors. Staggeringly James Cleverly – who had not initially been viewed as a leadership frontrunner – cut in front of the rest, with the backing of 37 MPs. And now, as Katy Balls wrote this morning, Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch are fighting it out in the race for second place.

Yet despite Badenoch’s third position result yesterday, the bookmakers are a little more optimistic about the straight-talking Tory contender’s chances today. The odds for the leadership wannabe have changed significantly in recent hours, this morning strengthening from 9/4 to 6/4 with Badenoch leading with 41 per cent of today’s bets. Currently Coral, BetFred and William Hill are among the bookies who reckon Badenoch’s fortunes are set to improve while SkyBet, Ladbrokes and Betfair put the Tory MP’s success rate above that of former home office minister and right-wing rival Jenrick.