Rory Stewart rejects ‘continuity May’ description

Rory Stewart said the success of his social media campaign has seen him through to the second round of the Conservative leadership race.

The international development secretary rejected a claim from the BBC’s Andrew Neil that he was “continuity May”.

He told the presenter: “I don’t look anything like the previous PM”, and he negotiated “in a completely different way”.

Mr Stewart was one of seven candidates to make it to the second round of voting next week. Three colleagues were eliminated in the first round result announced on Thursday lunchtime.