AFAIK, those votes only counted to get into the race proper.
From now on, it’s a new free vote every round, so the MPs can switch choices as they like.
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Even if an MP has nominated one Candidate, they are not forced to vote for them in any round of the secret ballots either.
“In order to ensure that only MPs with serious backing enter the contest, all candidates must be nominated by 20 Tory MPs (a proposer, a seconder and 18 others). The timetable is tight, with nominations opening and closing on Tuesday July 12.
Those candidates reaching the threshold are entitled to participate in the first ballot of Conservative MPs, and which takes place on Wednesday July 13. Voting in this and subsequent rounds is by secret ballot and each MP can vote for one candidate (which need not be the one they nominated and can change between rounds of voting).”
What a rigmarole. 
It makes me realise how right I was to make the decision to be a van driver rather than a politition. I have no regrets. 
I’ve never been involved in political organisations but several charity committees I’ve been part of have had a bit of a rigmarole when it comes to electing new officials - and if you think the Tory Party election is complicated, it has nothing on my local tennis club! 
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Well observing people taking themselves far too seriously is one of the joys of life, isn’t it? 
@Boot , Yeah l understand that, what worried me was if a candidate stated
they eere standing down, and that they were getting behind some other
candidate from now on ??
Did that mean the votes they had recieved so far went to their chosen
candidate to boost their score ??
As it happens Omah has addressed my concerns allready !!
Thanks all the same !!
Donkeyman! 
Well, I tuned into BBC Parliament an hour ago but, so far, all I’ve heard is a debate about the Restoration of Parliament (i.e. the material restoration of the building)
It’s an eye-opening discussion, mainly because of some of the views expressed, but the chamber is almost empty, so I presume not many MPs are interested in this matter.
I’m not sure if the Tory Leadership speeches are being held elsewhere or if they are going to be the next act coming on …
Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt are currently joint favourites, according to betting odds.
Candidates who get at least 30 votes in the first ballot this afternoon will go through to the next round, the rest will be eliminated.
There will be further hustings this morning, and the weekly session of PMQs will go ahead at 12:00 BST as usual.
Profits go up and down. It wasn’t long ago they were down. When they were down, did you go around saying, oh we’ll have to help them out because they need the investment to make sure the country is able to supply the energy. And also the people who’ll lose money on their pensions.
Omah shhhhh Penny Mordaunt is doing her speech.
Some points:
Mordaunt says she has been undertaking the equivalent of parliamentary speed dating as she has been meeting MPs.
Mordaunt says Whitehall needs change. Under her, it would happen quickly.
There would be a tighter cabinet, with ministers given clear timetables for delivery.
Mordaunt says she wants to stand up a civil defence force to deal with civil defence matters.
Mordaunt says she would also create taskforces to improve access to GPs and dentists, and to speed up housebuilding.
She can talk the talk.
Well, she’s my first choice. Why would anyone vote for Sunak? He’s promising to get the economy back on track. If that’s the case, why hasn’t he already done it?
“She can talk the talk.”
And she does it very well.
I can’t choose but, if I could, then she’d be mine, too … but only as the best of a bad bunch …
That’s a massive improvement on BJ, then … 
Mordaunt plays down, but does not rule out, prospect of calling early general election
Mordaunt refuses to say Johnson was good prime minister
Q: Was Boris Johnson a good prime minister?
Mordaunt says: “I think we should thank him for delivering Brexit - it was an incredibly difficult thing to do - and I think we should remember him for that.”
Mordaunt is asked what seems to be a question about trans, and how you define a woman. (It is not clear, because the questioner is not using a microphone, and so TV viewers cannot hear.) Mordaunt replies:
It was Margaret Thatcher who said every prime minister needs a Willie. A woman like me does not have one.
Q: How do you define a woman?
Mordaunt says she is biologically a woman. And she says that as someone who has served in the Royal Navy (as a reservist), and competed against men, “you understand the biological difference between men and women”.
That’s it. The launch is over.
Thought it was an excellent speech. She said she’s the candidate that Labour fear the most and I can well believe that, she comes across as a no nonsense sort of person. Was also going to state the line that Omah has just written regarding Willy.
This is her taking on Angela Rayner:
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Mordaunt sets out priorities: 'Restoring standards and trust’
Setting out her stall, Penny Mordaunt begins by recalling growing up in Portsmouth and as a child watching the Task Force set sail for the Falklands in 1982. Mordaunt says the party needs to return to those old values of “duty, service and sacrifice”.
She says the Conservatives’ greatest failings have been when they’ve come adrift of those values and “lost a sense of self”. She wants a return to low tax, a small state and personal responsibility.
Mordaunt speaks of the country facing “serious challenges” - from the war in Ukraine to staving off recession. She says her prime objective is to restore standards and trust.
