Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom will battle it out to become the next UK Conservative Party leader, after Brexit leave campaigner Michael Gove was eliminated from the contest.

After the second MPs’ ballot, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, finished with 199 votes, Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom had 84 and Mr Gove, the Justice Secretary, gained 46.

Conservative members will now decide the winning candidate and the result is due on 9 September.

The winner will become the UK’s second female prime minister.

Current Prime Minister David Cameron resigned after finishing on the losing side in the referendum which resulted in a vote for the UK to leave the European Union.

There had originally been five contenders to succeed Mr Cameron, with MPs voting in two rounds to get that number down to two.

The contest now moves to its final stage with the Conservative Party’s 150,000-strong membership deciding between Mrs May, a Remain campaigner with a long track record in government, and Mrs Leadsom, a leading light of the Brexit campaign who has stressed her City and business background.

Speaking after the results were announced, Mrs May said she had secured support from all wings of the Conservative Party and promised to bring the Tories together.

She promised “strong, proven leadership” to negotiate the UK’s departure from the EU, and to “make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few but for every one of us”.