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A spokesman for Michael Gove's leadership campaign is staying positive after his candidate came third in the poll with 37 votes.

“Everyone had written us off," he says. "People said we were going backwards.

"But we gained support and are in touching distance of second. It's all to play for."

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Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, who backs Jeremy Hunt, says she is "not at all" disappointed by his 43 votes.

"The plan is to make sure that I get as many voters as I can behind Jeremy Hunt," she says. "It looks highly likely that Boris will be in the final two."

But she says that this does not guarantee that he will win with Conservative Party members.

"Jeremy does have Leavers and Remainers on side," she says, so "all votes are up for persuasion".

She says Mr Hunt has been "absolutely honest" about the challenges he will face if he wins the contest.

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Schools Minister Nick Gibb says Michael Gove is now “best placed as a Brexiteer to challenge the front runner” Boris Johnson in the final.

Speaking on ����ý Radio 4's World at One, Mr Gove's backer says the environment secretary has a “strong plan for delivering Brexit, has the intellect to do so... and had a very strong campaign launch”.

He adds that Mr Gove - who received 37 votes in the first round - is “in this to win" and "has a clear plan, a credible plan how he would deliver Brexit".

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Esther McVey has given thanks to those who voted for her after being eliminated from the Tory leadership contest.

The former work and pensions secretary received the lowest number of votes - nine - in the first poll.

She says she will "speak to the remaining candidates to see who is best placed to deliver" on the policies she believes in.

Ms McVey adds: "I wish the remaining candidates well and I hope that all Conservative MPs will unite behind whoever wins this contest which is essential to prevent the disaster of a Marxist government.

“Whoever becomes the new leader will certainly receive my support.”

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Rory Stewart tells Politics Live he is "completely over the moon" to have got through the first vote.

He says he only had six declared votes ahead of the poll, but "more than three times that" voted for him in the secret ballot.

He says what changed was a poll by Conservative Home showing he was the second most popular with the Tory membership - after Boris Johnson.

"You build on that by saying, this message I am selling, about being brave in the centre ground and getting out and listening to people, is extraordinarily popular."

A total of 313 votes were cast with no spoiled ballots - meaning every Tory MP voted in the ballot.

Here's the full list of votes received by every candidate. Those in bold have progressed to the next ballot:

Michael Gove: 37

Matt Hancock: 20

Mark Harper: 10

Jeremy Hunt: 43

Sajid Javid: 23

Boris Johnson: 114

Andrea Leadsom: 11

Esther McVey: 9

Dominic Raab: 27

Rory Stewart: 19

Cheryl Gillan says there were no spoiled ballots, to amusement from the room.

The candidate with the lowest number of votes was Esther McVey, with just nine votes.

However, all candidates had to get a minimum of 5% backing from the party - or 17 votes including their own - to get through to the next ballot.

This meant Mark Harper and Andrea Leadsom were also eliminated from the race, with 10 and 11 votes respectively.

After all the results have been counted, Boris Johnson has topped the first poll with 114 votes.

Image source, Reuters

The former foreign secretary has received 114 votes in the first MPs' ballot for the next Tory leader.