Tory MP George Freeman, who is supporting Penny Mordaunt’s leadership campaign, says she is a strong candidate and will make it through to the final two alongside Rishi Sunak.

It comes as Mordaunt insists her vote is “steady” despite dropping one vote in the third round last night.

Freeman says she lost that vote because “one person was overseas,” adding that she couldn’t expect to have gained new supporters after the “savage attacks in the right-wing press” she has recently faced.

Mordaunt is a “compassionate Conservative” and it is unfair to call her “woke”, he says.

He claims Mordaunt has also faced criticism because she’s “broken through” and is a “threat to the cosy club”.

He says supporters of Tom Tugendhat - who was knocked out of the contest yesterday - will throw their support behind Mordaunt in today’s vote.

There’s not long to go now as Tory MPs continue to whittle down the candidates in the leadership race – leaving just two by the end of tomorrow. Conservative Party members will then decide which one becomes the next leader and PM.

Tuesday 19 July – Fourth round of voting by MPs from midday to 2pm, with the results due at 3pm.

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.

Chris Mason
Political editor

As things stand, Team Sunak appear happy.

The challenge with being the frontrunner is the focus and novelty shifts to those chasing the other place in the final two, and you potentially lose your oomph.

"That's a cracking result - Rishi gaining most - even given [that] Suella's voters [are the] least likely to be attracted," one former cabinet minister backing Sunak tells me, referring to the candidate eliminated last Thursday, Attorney-General for England and Wales Suella Braverman.

They added that Sunak "had a lead of 18 over second-placed Penny on Friday. Now it's 33. Momentum."

Mordaunt has gone backwards, losing one vote compared to last time.

She's trying to give it a positive spin, describing her vote as "steady" and adding she is "thrilled to be in second place once more".

Ahead of the MPs vote this afternoon let's take a look at the four runners left in the leadership race.

Rishi Sunak is the former chancellor who launched his leadership bid with a focus on the economy, ruling out tax cuts before public finances improve.

Despite his reputation being dented by a controversy over his wife's tax affairs - and being fined for breaching lockdown rules - Sunak has topped the three polls so far.

His backers including former leadership rivals Grant Shapps and Jeremy Hunt, as well as Deputy PM Dominic Raab.

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Trade minister Penny Mordaunt has come second in all three rounds of voting, and was for a time the bookies' favourite.

She has promised to cut VAT on fuel and to raise the basic and middle earner income tax thresholds in line with inflation.

Her supporters include senior backbenchers Andrea Leadsom and David Davis.

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Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has promised immediate tax cuts, a reversal of the National Insurance hike and a long-term commitment to reducing the size of the state.

Popular among Conservative Party members, Truss secured early backing from Boris Johnson loyalists Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg – as well as former leadership hopeful and staunch Brexiteer Suella Braverman.

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Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has pledged tax cuts and low regulation – and repeatedly challenged Mordaunt on her record when it comes to gender self-identification for transgender people.

She became an MP in 2017 and went on to become equalities minister in 2021, then minister for levelling up under Michael Gove, who has backed her leadership bid.

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Chris Mason
Political editor

In seven weeks' time, a new prime minister will arrive in Downing Street. For centuries, we've been in the habit, with a few exceptions, of getting white men to run the place.

So it's quite something for none of the final quartet to be one.

And so to Round Four with former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch.

MPs will vote between 12:00 and 14:00 and we'll get the result at 15:00.

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Here's a quick recap of what happened yesterday:

• The leadership race is down to the final four after Tom Tugendhat got the lowest number of votes and was eliminated from the contest

• Rishi Sunak secured the most votes in the third poll, with 115 Tory MPs backing him
• He's now just five short of the 120 votes which will guarantee him a place in the final two
• Penny Mordaunt came second with 82 votes, Liz Truss was third with 71, Kemi Badenoch came in fourth place with 58
• Meanwhile, the government also won a vote of confidence in itself by 349 votes to 238, putting to bed the prospect of an early general election

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Image source, Getty, Reuters, EPA

Thanks for joining our live coverage of the Conservative leadership contest.

Tory MPs will vote again between midday and 2pm as the process of choosing the two candidates to become our next PM continues.

There are four remaining contenders: Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, and Kemi Badenoch. One candidate will be knocked out of the contest when the results are announced around 3pm.

Sunak looks almost certain to make the final two, while the other three candidates are battling it out for second place.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates throughout the day.