(today)

Lord Cruddas, who was last year forced to defend donating £500,000 to the party just three days after he was admitted to the House of Lords, said he wanted Boris Johnson to stay on as Prime Minister.

He said: “If the membership are asked to vote for the last two contenders they will be voting for two people that they do not want on the ballot. The ballot only has credibility if Boris is part of the process.”