The remaining Tory leadership candidates have clashed over Brexit, tax cuts and public spending during a heated televised debate that saw Boris Johnson go head-to-head with his rivals for the first time.
The five contenders put forward different plans on Brexit, with Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt saying they would be willing to delay Britain's departure from the EU in order to secure a deal, while Mr Johnson and Sajid Javid said they would not. Rory Stewart promised never to allow a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Stewart also attacked his rivals for making promises he said they could not deliver, including on tax cuts. But they returned fire, with Mr Gove pushing him on his plan for public services.
Mr Johnson apologised for the offence caused by his previous comments about Muslim women but insisted they had been unfairly “escalated”, while Mr Hunt defended saying he agreed with the “sentiment” of Donald Trump's tweets about Sadiq Khan.
The debate followed the second round of voting by Tory MPs, which resulted in Dominic Raab being eliminated after failing to meet the threshold of 33 votes. Mr Johnson maintained a huge lead and Mr Stewart also increased his support, but Mr Javid only narrowly scraped through to Wednesday's third round.
See how the day unfolded below:
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's coverage of the second bout of the contest to select Britain's next prime minister.
Candidates need to gain at least 33 votes from MPs to remain in the race to reach the final run-off, which will see some 160,000 Tory members select the next prime minister.
Former leadership contender Andrea Leadsom has announced she is backing Boris Johnson to become the next prime minister.
Andrea Leadsom just gave Boris Johnson her endorsement in the Tory leadership race
Andrea Leadsom has announced she will back Boris Johnson to become leader of the Tory Party. The former candidate, who was knocked out in the first round of voting, said the former foreign secretary was “best placed to get us out of the EU at the end of October”. She told LBC Radio: “I think he will be a very good leader for our country.”Meanwhile, Sajid Javid has said Rory Stewart is "taking some support from all candidates" and accused him of "effectively telling us that we should remain in the EU".
Mr Javid told the BBC's Today programme: "I think he's effectively telling us that we should remain in the EU and there is a small constituency amongst my colleagues that would rather remain than leave, and I think that is part of the challenge that we have to deal with.
"And so I think up to a point Rory can attract that support but it's not going to get us any further."
Mr Stewart then tweeted: "I'm sure Sajid didn't mean that. He knows how fiercely and passionately we have both campaigned to get the withdrawal agreement through - and how although I - like he - voted Remain, we have fought together sincerely as fellow Cabinet Ministers for a moderate and pragmatic Brexit."
Mr Javid said he is "less Homer's Iliad and more Homer Simpson" in the race to become the next prime minister.
He warned that the Tory leadership race risked looking like a debate at the Oxford Union if the final candidates are all from similar backgrounds - unlike Mr Javid who was educated at a comprehensive school.
"I may have been culture secretary but I don't have the oratory of Cicero, it's less Homer's Iliad and more Homer Simpson. But I try my best to connect and I think it's very important as a modern Conservative Party that we reach out to those modern audiences," he told Today.
And he said: "If we end up in a situation where the final two, three, four even are people from similar backgrounds with similar life experiences and it will look like a debate at the Oxford Union and I just don't think that's healthy for the Tory Party."
The Labour Party has been fined a total of £1,750 for inaccurate quarterly donations reports and an inaccurate spending return for the last general election, the Electoral Commission has said.
The elections watchdog said Jeremy Corbyn's party paid the four penalties on 13 June.
The Conservative Party in Wakefield received a £200 fine for the late delivery of its 2017 statement of accounts, which it paid on 23 May.
Commenting on the fines to the Labour Party, Louise Edwards, director of regulation, said: "The reporting requirements are clear, so it is always disappointing when parties - especially well-resourced ones - fail to provide accurate reports.
"It is vital that voters are given an opportunity to see full, accurate data on where parties' money comes from and how it is spent at elections.
"The Commission will continue to enforce these requirements on all parties and campaigners to ensure that voters have the information they need."
Liam Gallagher has suggested he could become the next prime minister, demanding "the keys to No 10" to "sort out this pile of s***".
The former Oasis star tweeted: "WHY ME? WHY NOT."
"ParLIAMent c'mon you know," he added.
Rory Stewart's campaign was boosted by the backing of Cabinet Office minister and de facto deputy prime minister David Lidington.
The international development secretary only secured 19 votes in the first round of voting, but is trying to position himself as the "change" candidate who can defeat Mr Johnson in the July run-off.
Andrew Woodcock has the full story:
Rory Stewart receives No 10 boost with backing of Theresa May's deputy
The IndependentUnderdog candidate has built momentum but may struggle to meet threshold in second round of MPs’ votesRory Stewart has compared his campaign to Jeremy Corbyn's takeover of the Labour Party. The leadership hopeful also said he could not reveal whether he had ever been a government spy. Rob Merrick has the story:
Rory Stewart admits successful campaign tactics similar to Corbyn’s
Outsider says he cannot reveal if he worked for MI6 - adding 'If somebody asked me whether I am a spy I would say no'Mr Stewart is trying to position himself as the "change" candidate who can defeat Mr Johnson in the July run-off.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he has "no problem" being the "stop Boris" candidate, and that he would "love" to go against Mr Johnson in the final two.
"I have no problem with that, and I would love to go against him in the final two in order to give members the chance to choose whether they want Boris's Brexit or mine."
The backing for Mr Stewart led to reports that Michael Gove, the environment secretary, was trying to present Mr Stewart as a "polarising" candidate who would promote "blue-on-blue" Tory infighting if he made the final run-off.
Conservative members would be prepared to break up the UK, destroy the Tory Party or suffer economic damage to get the UK out of the European Union, a poll has suggested.
The YouGov survey of party members - who will decide the next prime minister - suggests almost half (46 per cent) would be happy to see the Brexit Party's Nigel Farage as their new leader.
Despite the strong support for Brexit, even if it had major repercussions, Tory members indicated they would be prepared to call it off rather than see Jeremy Corbyn enter Number 10.
The survey found 63 per cent of members would be prepared to see Brexit take place even if it meant Scotland leaving the UK.
Some 61 per cent would rather Brexit took place even if it caused "significant damage" to the economy, 59 per cent would prioritise leaving the EU even if it meant Northern Ireland breaking away from the rest of the UK, and 54 per cent would accept the Tory party "being destroyed" in order to secure Brexit.
But only 39 per cent of the members who responded to the question said they would want Brexit to take place if it meant Labour leader Mr Corbyn becoming the next prime minister, with 51 per cent saying they would rather the UK did not leave the EU in order to avoid that happening.
YouGov's Matthew Smith said: "Conservative members are not just ideologically committed to Brexit - they also genuinely believe that the failure to deliver on the result of the 2016 referendum will bring about the destruction of the party's electoral chances.
"Indeed, half (51 per cent) of members believe that Britain ending up staying in the EU after all would damage the party to the extent that it will never lead a government again, and another 29 per cent think it would put the party out of power for multiple elections to come.
"By contrast, most members believe that successfully bringing about Brexit will win the Tories at least the next election."
A third of those who watched the Channel 4 leadership debate on Sunday thought Rory Stewart performed best, an Opinium poll has found.
Among Tory voters who watched the show, 24 per cent thought Mr Stewart triumphed, narrowly ahead of Mr Hunt on 22 per cent.
Dominic Raab came third on 10 per cent, Sajid Javid had 9 per cent and Michael Gove was last with 6 per cent.
Stephen Barclay has written to the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, asking him to fully consider proposals to ring-fence citizens' rights regardless of how the UK leaves the EU.
The Brexit secretary said joint efforts should remain focused on ensuring an agreement is reached to allow the UK to leave with a deal, but suggested officials "continue to work on how we best protect citizens' rights in all scenarios".
He wrote: "I believe we collectively have an opportunity to address these concerns and that we should make sustained efforts to do so, including by fully considering these proposals and the technical issues raised in your letter.
"I note that there is gathering support from Parliamentarians in the European Parliament and other Member States for so doing."
It comes after an amendment tabled by Tory backbencher Alberto Costa to guarantee citizens' rights was passed without opposition in the Commons in March, despite Theresa May warning the EU would not be able to strike a deal of this kind.
Here is Andrew Woodcock's analysis of the first debate and hustings of the Conservative leadership campaign, as the candidates prepare to take part in a second live TV debate:
Who are the winners from the Tory leadership debates and hustings?
Politics Explained: TV debates are an opportunity for outsiders and a risk for frontrunnersPhilip Hammond has refused to rule out resigning as chancellor over Theresa May's attempt to spend billions on her "legacy", Rob Merrick writes:
Chancellor refuses to rule out resigning over Theresa May's attempt to spend billions on her 'legacy'
Philip Hammond resents pressure to free up money from the £27bn no-deal Brexit 'war chest' - even as prime minister packs her bagsDowning Street said Theresa May's future spending plans did not come up in Cabinet, but said the chancellor offered his views "across a wide range of topics".
The prime minister's official spokesman said: "You have seen significant announcements made by the prime minister with full Cabinet support in recent days, including one today in relation to protecting consumer rights, one yesterday in relation to mental health and the commitment on climate change."
Asked if Ms May would like the chancellor not to resign, the spokesman said: "It's been quite hard keeping up with all the anonymous quotes from friends of the chancellor in recent days.
"But I would simply say he was in Cabinet this morning and offering his views across a wide range of topics."
When asked about a poll which showed Tory members would be prepared to sacrifice the union, destroy their party or suffer economic damages to get the UK out of the EU, Theresa May's official spokesman said: "Right from her very first day in office and throughout the Brexit negotiations, the prime minister has placed great importance upon securing the Union.
"It is hugely important to her and I think you have seen throughout her commitment to trying to protect the integrity of the Union."
Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt have traded barbs in interviews with the Evening Standard, with the environment secretary saying his rival has treated Brexit like an "unexploded bomb" and the foreign secretary claiming he has the "experience" and "relationship of trust" to negotiate a new deal with the EU.
Responding to an article in The Guardian headlined "Tory rivals turn on Rory Stewart as campaign gathers momentum", the leadership hopeful has tweeted: "I seem to be doing something right."
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