CUMBRIA'S Prime Ministerial hopeful Rory Stewart has vowed to "bring down" Boris Johnson if he tries to shut down Parliament to force through Brexit.

Mr Stewart, MP for Penrith and the Border, spoke bluntly about his fellow Tory MP just hours after they made it through to the next round of voting in the contest to find the Conservative Party's next leader and Theresa May's successor.

Mr Johnson won support from 114 fellow MPs, while Mr Stewart had 19 supporters - two more than was necessary to stay in the race.

Some political insiders have claimed that Boris Johnson has not ruled out asking the Queen to closedown Parilament in order to prevent MPs voting to block a no-deal Brexit going ahead on October 31. The tactic is known as proroguing Parliament.

Mr Stewart told Sky News: "Let’s get Boris to be straight.

"Does he or does he not consider locking the doors of parliament to be acceptable?

"That is an unconstitutional, improper, really disturbing suggestion that you try to get something through by locking the doors of parliament. Answer us.

"I’ve been asking for a week, ‘Boris, are you going to lock the doors of Parliament?’ If so, tell people, because we want to know what kind of leader or prime minister we are voting for.

"But he won’t be able to.

"I guarantee you, if he were to try, I and every other member of parliament will sit across the road in Methodist Central Hall and we will hold our own session of parliament and we will bring him down because you do not, ever, lock the doors on parliament in this country, or in any other country with any respect in the world."

 

Described by some commentators as a "rising star" of the race to lead the Conservative Party - and so become the UK's next Prime Minister - Mr Stewart is rapidly emerging as one of Boris Johnson's most credible rivals.

As expected, the clear winner in the first round of voting was Boris Johnson, who remains the favourite to win.

Among the first-round casualties - MPs who failed to poll enough votes to stay in the race - were Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey, and Mark Harper.

 

Over the last week, Stewart - the current International Development Secretary - has conducted a determined campaign, taking his vision for the future of his party out on to the streets, up and down the UK, promoting himself via social media.

He has achieved more than 57 million hits on social media.

The MP says that his background as a professional diplomat would help him steer MPs towards a form of Theresa May's Brexit that could command a majority support in Parliament.

He is vehemently opposed to a no-deal Brexit, saying it would devastate the UK's economy - including Cumbria's farming industry.

In contrast, Boris Johnson is adamant the UK must leave the European Union by October 31.

He this week told fellow MPs that he is not aiming for a no-deal Brexit but he believes it has to remain on the table as a tool of negotiation.

Just hours before the result of the ballot held by Conservative MPs was announced, a poll carried out by the ConservativeHome website revealed that Boris Johnson remained the front-runner with party members.

But Stewart has risen to become their second favourite candidate.

"I'm completely over the moon," said Stewart, speaking to Andrew Neil on the BBC.
He said a turning point may have been the first Conservative Party member opinion poll which placed him second in the running to Boris Johnson.

Asked how he will build on that, he said: "By saying this message; this message about being radical, about being brave, and getting out and listening to people is extraordinarily popular. None of the other candidates have tapped into that...

"I am finding that the Conservative message, communicated properly, is incredibly popular and that is what I have to get across to colleagues."

Mr Neil suggested Stewart was viewed "with huge suspicion" as too much of a remainer.
Mr Stewart replied: "I voted remain, but I am passionately committed to getting Brexit through."

He said he was a realist, who recognised that securing a Parliamentary majority was at the heart of achieving Brexit, which needed just 45 votes in favour to get Theresa May's deal through the Commons.

Mr Neil said the deal Mr Stewart is supporting was basically the one negotiated by Theresa May - and rejected by Parliament."You are continuity May," said Mr Neil.

The MP's response was: "Because it's reality; it's the only agreement. There are no other agreements out there. All these other candidates are spinning fairy story fantasies. Where are their agreements?"

He added that he would not serve under Boris Johnson as Prime Minister if he advocated a policy he could not believe in. The votes cast in today's poll by the Conservative Party's 1922 back-benchers committee are as follows:

Boris Johnson: 114

Rory Stewart: 19

Jeremy Hunt: 43

Michael Gove: 37

Dominic Raab: 27

Andrea Leadsom: 11

Matt Hancock: 20

Esther McVey: 9

Sajid Javid: 23

Mark Harper: 10

The ConservativeHome survey revealed that Boris Johnson has support from 54% of the 1,500 party members polled, while Stewart gleaned 11% support, with Dominic Raab in third place with 8%.

When MPs have whittled down the list of candidates to the final two, the choice of leader will be handed over to the party's 160,000 members.

Most MPs oppose a no-deal Brexit and remainer’s yesterday failed by just 11 votes to enshrine this into law.