Boris Johnson remains in pole position in the battle to be crowned the leader of the Conservative party but Sajid Javid has been eliminated in the fourth round of voting by MPs.

Mr Johnson topped the latest round and seems certain to be one of the two candidates to get to the final run-off.

The candidate who will join him will now be determined in a further elimination round this afternoon.

Scroll down to hear from South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay who is backing Boris Johnson

Eleven of the county’s MPs have swung behind the former Foreign Secretary, who has been top in all of the rounds to date.

Mr Johnson took 157 of the votes, comfortably out-polling his rivals.

Michael Gove moved up into second with 61 votes and Jeremy Hunt slipped into third with 59.

None of Kent's MPs had said they were backing Home Secretary Sajid Javid in the race to be Conservative Party leader and the next Prime Minister.

The final two candidates left after the fifth and final round of voting will then be put to a vote of Tory members to decide the leader.

You can follow live updates on final round of voting in the race to become the next Prime Minister here.

The votes cast for each candidate was as follows:

Boris Johnson: 157

Michael Gove: 61

Jeremy Hunt: 59

Sajid Javid: 34 (Out)

Head to our politics page for expert analysis and all the latest news from your politicians and councils.