Conservative leadership race – live: Boris Johnson dodges hustings despite ridicule from Jeremy Hunt for ducking TV debate
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox
Get our free View from Westminster email
Boris Johnson is skipping Conservative leadership hustings with political journalists on Monday morning, hours after refusing to attend Channel 4’s televised debate.
His rival candidates are all participating in the event, which began at 11.10am, but the frontrunner's team claim he is too busy doing debate preparation to attend.
Channel 4 marked the Mr Johnson’s absence from Sunday’s debate with an empty podium.
During the event, Rory Stewart, one of the contenders vying to replace Theresa May, claimed up to 100 Conservative MPs would vote with him to stop Boris Johnson carrying out a no-deal Brexit – but ruled out joining with Labour to topple his government.
The Tory leadership outsider refused to echo senior Tories Philip Hammond and Ken Clarke who could potentially back a vote-of-no-confidence, saying: “I'm not going to take down a Conservative government.”
Questioned by The Independent at hustings in Westminster, Mr Stewart said: “We can stop a no-deal Brexit much more easily than that.
“I, and nearly 100 of my colleagues, would vote to prevent a no-deal Brexit without having to bring down a Conservative government.”
Mr Stewart also ruled out backing a Final Say referendum on Brexit, telling journalists it would be “catastrophic and divisive”.
This liveblog has now closed - but you view the day's events in Westminster below
Ex-Brexit secretary Dominic Raab is now up in front of the journalists. He says participating in the questioning is "essential" for anyone wanting to be prime minister - a swipe at Boris Johnson.
Raab says he's been the most categorical of candidates, saying he is prepared to leave without a deal. "Im the candidate the British people cant trust," he says.
Asked whether Brexit has damaged the party's reputation as the party of business, he says that Brexit is divisive and businesses have different views.
Asked whether he was confident of having 33 MPs backing him tomorrow at the second ballot, he says he is "quietly confident".
Raab says the negotiations in Brussels broke down because Theresa May and the cabinet were not prepared to hold the line, which is why he resigned.
Pressed on his "obnoxious bigots" comments, and whether he would give at least half of his cabinet jobs to women, Raab says he is not "going to go for arbitrary quotas".
Pressed on Donald Trump's comments, he says he does not think the language from the US president is not helpful or constructive. He adds he is proud to have grown up in the "melting pot" of London.
"I'm proud to have a Muslim mayor of London," he claims.
Asked on how he would get a no deal through parliament, he says he has never said he wanted to suspend parliament, but will not rule anything out. "We had the vote last week which showed MPs do not take no deal off the table," he adds.
All the business about suspension of parliament, he adds, Rory Stewart has pledged to bring back a deal similar to Theresa May's - already three times rejected by parliament.
Prorogation "seems to be a central plank" of his policy proposal, he says. "There is only one saying it is central to his Brexit policy".
Raab says he would "absolutely" commit to monthly press conferences if he becomes prime minister.
But rising outsider rules out joining no-confidence vote by Labour - or backing a 'catastrophic and divisive' Final Say referendum, writes Rob Merrick.
Michael Gove - the environment secretary - is now up as the final guest. It's a pleasure once more to address the 1922 committee, he says.
Gove says he believes he can "strike fear into Jeremy Corbyn's heart" at the despatch box each Wednesday for PMQs.
"We need to make sure in the final two we have people who are ready to be prime minister from day one," he says. "I believe I am pre-eminently qualified."
The environment secretary says if we are going to leave without a deal, you will have to get parliamentary approval. He rules out suspending parliament.
Asked if Speaker John Bercow had an "agenda", he said John & I have children at the same school, so he won't speak ill of his "good friend".
Gove says Islamophobia is an "equal evil" to antisemitism, and he would root anyone in the Conservative Party showing Islamophobia.
Asked about an independent inquiry in the Conservative Party, Gove says the current chairman Brandon Lewis is doing an excellent job.
On the prospect of a second referendum, he replies: "It's a flat, no".
Pressed on Donald Trump's comments on Sadiq Khan, he adds:
"It's always a mistake to retweet anything Katy Hopkins tweets".
Jeremy Hunt has sided with Donald Trump over his attacks on Sadiq Khan, despite the US president endorsing the racist term “Londonistan”.
The foreign secretary refused to criticise Mr Trump for retweeting a post by right-wing commentator Katie Hopkins, which had called the capital “Khan's Londonistan”.
“President Trump has his own style and I wouldn’t use those words myself,”
Michael Gove now speaks about his plans for Brexit, and repeats his insistence this morning about Jeremy Corbyn being in Downing Street if the government pursued a no-deal scenario.
He said the same on Radio 4's Today programme this morning.
On Boris Johnson's decision not to show up to the hustings, Mr Gove said: "These hustings without Boris are like Hamlet without the prince. Of course, we all know what happened in the play, Hamlet didn’t become king."
Asked whether he had any regrets over the last three years, he said it was a mistake to trigger Article 50 so early without a plan.
He says he pressed on the PM a "different course" but she pressed on with the plan she believed. All of those who resigned from government, he adds, and are running for the leadership ended up backing Ms May's deal on March 29.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies