The outcome of the ballot of party members will be announced in central London at 11am, bring the bitter contest to a conclusion after nearly four months.
Tensions have been rising between the camps, with allegations of ‘dirty tricks’ in the struggle to succeed Rishi Sunak.
The candidates have also brutal barbs at each other, with Ms Badenoch questioning Mr Jenrick’s ‘integrity’ – and him suggesting the Conservatives will ‘die’ with her at the helm.
James Cleverly will not accept a frontbench role
Shadow home secretary James Cleverly says he will not accept a frontbench role from the next leader of the Conservative Party.
The winning candidate – Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick – is likely to carry out an immediate reshuffle of the Tory frontbench team.
But Cleverly has told the Financial Times he will return to the backbenches, rather than serve in either candidate’s shadow cabinet.
Who is Robert Jenrick?
Robert Jenrick, 42, was elected under David Cameron in 2014, he was one of the rising star ministers who swung behind Boris Johnson as prime minister and was later a vocal supporter of Rishi Sunak.
But he resigned as immigration minister in December 2023, claiming Sunak’s government was breaking its promises to cut immigration.
The MP for Newark in Nottinghamshire says he had a ‘working-class’ upbringing in Wolverhampton. He read history at Cambridge University and worked at Christie’s auctioneers before winning a by-election.
After a long ministerial career where he was seen as mild-mannered, he is said to have been “‘radicalised’ by his time at the Home Office and has focused his campaign on a promise to slash immigration and leave the European Convention on Human Rights to ‘stand for our nation and our culture, our identity and our way of life’.
He has put forward more policies than his rival, but attracted criticism for some of his claims – including that Britain’s former colonies owe the Empire a ‘debt of gratitude’.
Who is Kemi Badenoch?
Kemi Badenoch, 44, is the former trade secretary, who was born in London to middle-class Nigerian parents but spent most of her childhood in Lagos.
After moving back to the UK aged 16, she stayed with a family friend while taking her A-levels, and has spoken of her time working at McDonald’s as a teenager.
Having studied computer science at Sussex University, she then worked as a software engineer before entering London politics and becoming MP for Saffron Walden in Essex in 2017.
Ms Badenoch prides herself on being outspoken and has said the Conservatives lost because they ‘talked right and governed left’. But her critics paint her as abrasive and prone to misspeaking.
Good morning
Welcome to MailOnline’s live blog of the final vote for the next Conservative leader.
The outcome of the ballot of party members will be announced in central London at 11am, bring the bitter contest to a conclusion after nearly four months.
Whoever wins will face a mammoth task to restore Tory fortunes and see off the threat from Reform after the astonishing July election rout that reduced the party to just 121 MPs.
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Tory leadership LIVE: Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick to be crowned new Conservative leader today months after Rishi Sunak’s crushing election defeat
