The numbers are on Boris Johnson's side
There are 314 Conservative MPs in UK parliament. In the first round of voting, Boris Johnson won the support of 114.
The last six votes are important. Presuming none of his MP supporters abandon him, that means he will finish in no worse than second place. If all the remaining votes were split among two other candidates, they would get 100 each.
Essentially, the only way Johnson doesn't end up as PM is if he loses the showdown vote among broader party membership. That takes place once the field is whittled down to just two men.
And it will be a man. Anndrea Leadsom, who was the runner-up to Theresa May in the most-recent leadership contest, got just 11 votes. EAll of those with fewer than 16 will be removed from the ballot. That includes Harper and Esther McVey as well.
So among those who still remain, we have:
Johnson 114
Hunt 43
Gove 37
Raab 27
Javid 23
Hancock 20
Stewart 19
Here's the thinking on what happens next, from the BBC's Alex Wickham:
See: There's only one thing that really matters for the pound in the UK leadership race
