Tory leadership contest: Boris Johnson wins backing from ex-Brexit secretary Dominic Raab

The frontrunner in the race to replace Theresa May is expected to pick up more of Raab's hardline Brexiteer supporters

Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has officially backed Boris Johnson in the Conservative leadership contest, saying he is the only candidate who will ensure Brexit is delivered by 31 October.

Mr Raab, who was eliminated from the race in the second round yesterday, is expected to be joined by many of his 30 supporters, who included members of the European Research Group of hardline backbench Brexiteers.

Their support will give a further impetus to the drive to Downing Street mounted by Mr Johnson, who is already all but guaranteed a place on the ballot paper for the vote of 160,000 Conservative members which will select the new PM next month.

Mr Johnson has declared that he will take the UK out of the EU by the Halloween deadline, deal or no deal.

But he appeared to soften his stance in a BBC TV debate on Tuesday, dodging a call to guarantee Brexit will be complete by the end of October and saying only that departure by that date was “eminently plausible”. He repeatedly stressed that he did not want a “disorderly” no-deal outcome.

Mr Raab made clear he remains confident that Mr Johnson would meet the deadline.

He told the Evening Standard: “The only candidate who will now do this is Boris Johnson – and so I’ll be supporting him to become our next prime minister.

“We must leave the EU on October 31 — we’ve had enough delays and we need to get on with it so we can deliver on the task the British people gave us as politicians.

“Boris will make sure we leave the EU on time and move on to uniting the country behind a positive programme where everyone can benefit from the UK’s success.”

Mr Raab’s supporters in the Tory leadership contest included former Brexit ministers David Davis and Suella Braverman as well as prominent Leavers Nadhim Zahawi and Andrea Jenkyns.

Declaring she was switching her support to Mr Johnson after the second round ballot, Ms Jenkyns said: “This is a fight to ensure we have a Brexiteer at last leading our party. And committed to leaving on 31 October. Brexiteers must now unite behind Boris.​”