Rory Stewart campaign point to new polling in bid to win backing of MPs

Will Rory Stewart still be in the Tory leadership race come Tuesday? The International Development Secretary is seen as the wildcard of the contest. Regarding at first as having little to no chance of becoming leader owing to his pro-deal position, the undeterred Tory MP has ran a rather creative campaign going on various walks and meet and greets with members of the public in a bid to convince members of Parliament to get behind his leadership bid. His efforts have garnered a lot of attention and endorsements from unlikely places. The problem is very few of those endorsements are coming from the Conservative parliamentary party that decides who makes it through the rounds – before the membership selecting from the final two.

After the 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers changed the rules so that each candidate now needs eight MPs backing them – two proposing, and six unnamed – by 5pm Monday to be eligible, Stewart’s task has only got harder.