Shropshire MPs' disappointment over Hunt

He was speaking after the former foreign secretary was eliminated from the race to succeed Boris Johnson after the first round of voting by Tory MPs. He and chancellor Nadhim Zahawi didn't receive the required number of votes to carry on.

Mr Dunne was leading Mr Hunt's campaign in parliament and said he would have been be the bes candidate to provide the integrity and competence needed to bring back into the role.

He said: "I'm obviously disappointed but I am sure in the remaining candidates we will have capable and excellent people who can restore trust in the office of Prime Minister and the faith of the party members and the electorate.

Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski was also part of Jeremy Hunt's teams and said he was obviously disappointed in the outcome but said he had been proud to be part of his campaign team with Mr Dunne, his fellow Salopian MP.

Speaking after hustings on Wednesday evening he said he had been impressed with Penny Mordaunt who has been the Minster of State for Trade Policy since last year and is a former Secretary of State for International development and of Defence.

He said: "She has come across very well and seems to show the fortitude and endeavour to make a good run for office - she has ministerial experience and she will now be the one I will be backing to reach the final two. "But there are plenty of good candidates left in the race, it is a diverse group of talented people who will need to be able to unite the party and be someone that the MPs and the electorate can get behind."

He added one of the issues he had brought up in hustings was how the candidates would deal with NHS waiting times and lists and whether they would advocate some patients who had been waiting for a long time being treated by private hospitals funded by the public purse.

Telford MP Lucy Allan welcomed the progress of her chosen candidate, Kemi Badenoch.

She said: "I am delighted to see Kemi has made it through to the next round and she has done so well coming fourth behind the more established candidates. I hope she now makes it through to the next round."

Earlier Ms Allan had said: "Kemi is a principled, true conservative, who represents modern Britain and the future of our party."