Referencing one the Conservatives' flagship manifesto pledges from 2019, Boris Johnson gestures towards the Labour benches and says: "They constantly say we're not going to build 40 new hospitals... well I can tell you that we are."

He says they'll be done by 2030, and there will be "measurable improvement" by 2024.

Tory backbencher Michael Fabricant says: "I personally think our party is making the same mistake the party opposite made when they knifed Tony Blair."

The MP for Lichfield praises Johnson's vaccination programme, saying it saved lives.

Continuing to run through his time as prime minister, Boris Johnson says the government "never gave up" in the pandemic, "wave after wave".

"We protected our NHS, we saved thousands of lives, and we were finally rescued by the genius of British scientists," he says, adding that the vaccine was licensed faster than any vaccine in the world.

He says the UK vaccinated so fast that it came out of lockdown faster than any other European country.

"And when I look at that achievement Mr Speaker, I tell you, I have confidence in this government and in what it can do."

Defending having "delivered Brexit", Boris Johnson attacks the Labour party for trying 48 times to "overturn the will of the people".

Reassuring Tory MPs "your place in history is secure" he tells the opposition their attempts to overturn Brexit "will be remembered in the history of this country".

Boris Johnson begins by saying he has "no idea" why Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has insisted there is a confidence motion today, when they could be discussing their online harms legislation or the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Speaker cuts in to say it was in fact the government that called for the motion to be discussed today, after it refused to accept the wording of a Labour motion.

Over in the House of Commons, a debate has started on the confidence motion, which the government has tabled in itself.

The controversial move came after the Tories refused to accept the wording of a similar Labour motion.

Boris Johnson is at the despatch box and is about to open the debate with what's expected to be a defence of his government, setting out its major achievements.

Image source, EPA/ITV

Tom Tugendhat has said he will not withdraw from the Tory leadership race, despite trailing behind rivals ahead of tonight's vote by MPs.

He told fellow Conservative MPs "some colleagues have suggested that I should step aside, that I should fall in behind someone else, that I've run a good campaign and can leave with my head held high".

"Some have suggested I could leave with a job as well," he said, but insisted "it is not for me to make that decision - it is for you".

"Were I to withdraw now then somebody else would be eliminated tonight without the opportunity to make their case further.”

He also condemned what he saw as the contest's "infighting, the sniping, the blue on blue, the attacks and the smears". "We do not need this, now or ever."

A senior official at the International Monetary Fund has warned against promising tax cuts – an issue central to the Conservative leadership contest.

"I think debt-financed tax cuts at this point would be a mistake," said Mark Flanagan, head of the IMF’s UK team.

He said tax cuts now could be misguided and might even boost inflation by strengthening spending.

The former chancellor, Rishi Sunak, came under fire from rivals Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt in the TV debates for arguing against tax cuts. Sunak insisted the priority must be to tackle inflation, and pressed them on how they would fund tax cuts.

Mark Flanagan told BBC News that the UK’s tax ratio relative to the size of the economy was below-average compared with other advanced economies.

"At some point you have to decide, do we want to invest in the climate transition? Do we want to invest in digitalisation? Do we want to invest in skills for the public. Well, if you do you need the resources to do it. And the way to realise those resources is to lift the tax ratio a little bit," he said.

You can read more analysis on this here.

Image source, Reuters

A little later, Boris Johnson will open the Commons debate ahead of a confidence vote in his government. He will "set out some of the achievements of the government," his spokesman has said.

Unusually the government itself called the vote, after refusing to accept the wording of a Labour motion expressing no confidence.

A defeat in the vote would probably trigger an early general election, but that is not expected, despite anger at Boris Johnson, who is now in a caretaker role while the party chooses a new leader. He is set to stand down in September.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer pointed out that none of the contenders to succeed Johnson said they would have him in their cabinet, when asked in Sunday's debate on ITV.

"Tonight, he's asking them to go into voting lobbies to vote confidence in him continuing as prime minister, so this is getting farcical," Starmer said.

But he added that the government "is likely to be propped up again this afternoon in that debate".

Most MPs and commentators don't realise what deep trouble the Conservative Party is in, a former Tory donor warns.

Using slightly more vivid language than that, John Armitage says people are "fed up with a regime which tolerated a dishonourable, bad prime minister for a long time".

Armitage has given more than £3m to the Conservatives, but stopped in February when he called for Boris Johnson to resign over Partygate.

He tells BBC Radio 4's World At One the public is fed up with "policy by press release" and he wants a leader who "will actually do something and isn't guided by opinion polls".

The hedge fund boss is hoping Kemi Badenoch will win as she's "not associated with the old regime" and comes across as "genuine".

"There's something very slick and superficial about the campaigns of many of these aspiring prime ministers," he says.

But Armitage, who has previously described himself as a "middle-of-the-road conservative", says he will not offer funding to any leadership candidates.

Would he donate to the Conservatives again? He says he'll wait to see if the party addresses any of the country's major problems "in a coherent, serious way".

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

We've just been hearing from a Rishi Sunak supporting MP who was listening to his pitch in the room.

This MP thinks Sunak is unlikely to pick up many votes tonight - because few if any of Suella Braverman’s supporters will move to backing Sunak.

This ally of the former chancellor said his campaign remained cautiously optimistic about his chances - but said they weren’t being complacent.

After last night’s bruising TV debate, this MP backed the idea of more debates happening when it gets down to the final two.

They seemed hopeful it would be better natured at that stage because the remaining candidates would be thinking a lot more about what comes after the contest - and the need to govern.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

The leadership candidates are being through their paces in Parliament again this afternoon.

Tory MPs are getting the chance to quiz them all behind closed doors before tonight's round of voting.

So far Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak have been in.

But it seems like a lot of Tory MPs have already made their minds up.

One MP who was in the room said there were only 30 others there. As ever with these events, quite a few of them will be there to support their candidate.

Oh and it’s quite hot in the committee corridor.

In the next few days, Tory MPs will whittle down the candidates in rounds of voting – leaving two by Wednesday. Conservative Party will then decide which one becomes the next leader and PM.

Today – Third round of voting by MPs with results at 20:00 BST.

Tuesday 19 July – Fourth round of voting by MPs. A Sky News debate has been cancelled after Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss dropped out.

Wednesday 20 July – Final round of voting takes place, leaving two rivals to go head-to-head for the top job.

Hustings for members of the Conservative Party will then be held around the country – starting from Friday 22 July.

The winner will be announced on Monday 5 September after a postal ballot, completed by less than 200,000 Tory party members.

Last push for hopefuls before third round of votingpublished at 13:58 British Summer Time 18 July 2022

13:58 BST 18 July 2022

Jonathan Blake
Political correspondent

There's a concern among Conservatives - after those brutal exchanges in last night's TV debate - that this leadership contest needs to cool off if it's to avoid descending into acrimonious infighting.

As we already know, there won't now be another televised debate tomorrow, after Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss declined to take part - and that's left Labour accusing the candidates of shying away from scrutiny.

This is not a public contest, though, it is a contest among Conservative MPs, at this stage - and then it's up to Conservative Party members to choose their new leader.

And that's why, for some, they may feel a mismatch between what the candidates are talking about, and focusing on, and what the public's priorities might be.

But the candidates will appeal to those whose votes they need - Conservative MPs - in another round of hustings today before they cast their votes again tonight to narrow the field down further.

We'll know at 20:00 BST who leaves the race and who is left, when five become four and the contest continues.

With tomorrow's Sky News leadership debate cancelled - amid concerns in the Tory party about infighting - let's take a look what happened during last night's ITV event.

Some of the fiercest clashes came between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss over how to grow the economy while dealing with a cost of living crisis.

• Truss told Sunak that tax rises he introduced when chancellor would "choke off" growth
• He hit back blaming the pandemic and accused Truss of peddling "something-for-nothing economics" in her campaign
• Penny Mordaunt chipped in to say the limited tax cuts she advocated were not inflationary and people need help now with the cost of living
• Sunak accused her of having a "dangerous" plan to scrap his economic rule of only borrowing to invest

Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch, who've both served as equalities minister, came to blows about Mordaunt's record on self-identification for transgender people.

• Badenoch again insisted that while in the job her rival supported self-ID - allowing people to legally change their gender without requiring medical approval - but Mordaunt denied this, again
• Mordaunt spoke to the BBC about this issue yesterday, saying its use by rivals was an example of "toxic politics"

Other key moments included:

• Asked if any candidate would give Boris Johnson a cabinet position, nobody raised their hand
• Sunak defended his wife Akshata's previous non-domiciled tax status and her family's wealth
• When asked if they would sit next to Russia President Vladimir Putin at a G20 summit, all but Truss said they would not
• All candidates said they would back the UK's commitment to curb carbon emissions to net zero by 2050

Image source, PA Media

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has attacked leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt, saying her ministerial colleague was absent at key times and left others to "pick up the pieces".

Trevelyan told LBC news: "I think a number of candidates have spent a number of months preparing their campaigns, yes.

"So there have been a number of times when she [Mordaunt] hasn't been available which would have been useful and other ministers have picked up the pieces, yes."

Cabinet minister Trevelyan is Mordaunt’s boss and is backing Tom Tugendhat for the leadership.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says he's "astonished" Tory leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have pulled out of a TV debate.

Based on what he's seen in the debates so far, he says he isn't surprised. But he adds: "Pulling out of a TV debate when you want to be prime minister doesn't show very much confidence."

Questioning how candidates can expect to avoid scrutiny in a leadership contest, Sir Keir says Britons, "particularly with the heatwave today... want a government that's focused on the day job, that's getting on with resilience for today and tomorrow".

Sunak, the former chancellor, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss confirmed earlier they wouldn't take part in a Sky News debate planned for tomorrow, prompting the broadcaster to cancel the show.

Image source, PA Media

David Brown
Visual Journalism Team

There's been another shift in the betting odds on the candidates.

Here's how they look now:

Image source, .

Rishi Sunak, who had fallen behind Penny Mordaunt in the betting, is now back in front.

Mordaunt remains in second place, but Liz Truss appears to be gaining ground.

Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat are still trailing.

Penny Mordaunt's campaign team has stressed the need for media scrutiny, reacting to the cancellation of the Sky News debate.

"Media scrutiny is important in this contest. Penny has done broadcast and allowed time for journalists to ask questions at her launch," a source in her campaign said.

"MPs aren't just picking a new leader, but picking the nation's new PM. Penny hopes there will be ample opportunity for such scrutiny later in the contest in a format that allows detailed questions and insights."

Image source, Getty Images

The government is holding a confidence vote in itself, after blocking a similar attempt by Labour. It's not expected to lose though. MPs will start debating the issue around 15:30, with a vote in the evening from around 22:00.

The main event today is the third round of voting – by Tory MPs – which will whittle the five Tory leadership candidates down to four.

The vote itself is scheduled to take place 17:00 - 19:00. The person with the fewest votes is eliminated from the contest and will then have to decide which of their rivals to support instead. It’s common practice that at least some – if not all – of a former candidate’s backers will be guided by their decision, which could prove vital as we edge closer to the final run-off of two candidates.

Rishi Sunak is still expected to secure a spot on that final shortlist but who'll join him is less certain.

Penny Mordaunt had the second highest number of votes from Tory MPs at the end of last week, and Liz Truss was in third place. But after two brutal televised debates it’s unclear who MPs will pledge their allegiance to.

The result of the vote is expected at 20:00.