Johnson plots to knock out Gove with 'dirty tricks' plan to 'lend votes' to Sajid Javid as Tory leadership race narrows to the final two in DOUBLE elimination TODAY The Conservative leadership contest will be whittled down to the final two today in more ballots of MPs Boris Johnson is facing demands to condemn 'dirty tricks' by his supporters amid strange voting patterns Rumours they are trying to knock out Michael Gove for betraying Johnson during the 2016 leadership battle Jeremy Hunt is in second, Mr Gove third and Sajid Javid is trailing in fourth but all are far behind Mr JohnsonBy James Tapsfield, Political Editor, For Mailonline Published: 08:27 BST, 20 June 2019 | Updated: 08:59 BST, 20 June 2019 Viewcomments Advertisement Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove are scrambling to woo failed Tory leadership hopeful Rory Stewart today as they vie to face Boris Johnson in the run-off. The pair are desperately competing for votes as MPs whittle the field down to the final two - with the party membership then getting to decide the winner. Mr Stewart was the latest candidate brutally ejected from the contest last night, after his support dropped dramatically to 27 in the wake of a bizarre performance in the five-way TV debate. However, he has blamed 'dark arts' for his demise - with claims Johnson's allies propped him up to ensure rival Dominic Raab was evicted, and are now determined to prevent Mr Gove to getting through. Mr Gove has never been forgiven for betraying Mr Johnson in the 2016 leadership contest. Cabinet minister Amber Rudd, who is campaigning for Mr Hunt, this morning urged Mr Johnson to condemn the 'game playing' by his fans. The Foreign Secretary also ramped up his rhetoric against the front runner, urging his colleagues to recognise the party 'can do better than Boris'. Meanwhile, Mr Stewart said former competitors have been in touch trying to win him over - but insisted he would not be backing anyone publicly. 'I’ve been getting texts like you wouldn’t believe,' he joked. Boris Johnson (pictured at his London home today) is guaranteed to make the final two in the Tory leader contest - with Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove fighting over who will take him on There are claims Mr Johnson's allies are determined to evict Mr Gove (pictured at his London home today) from the contest Mr Hunt (pictured out running today) has been in second place in the first three Tory ballots - but is only narrowly ahead of Mr Gove with all to play for MPs loyal to Mr Johnson are plotting the environment secretary's downfall, with one Johnson supporter saying they want him 'humiliated', according to The Telegraph. It comes as Mr Johnson's team have also approached Sajid Javid - who came fourth in the ballot yesterday - to become chancellor, according to allies of the home secretary. Yesterday, maverick leadership Mr Stewart was dramatically booted from the contest after coming last with just 27 votes - down from 37 on Monday - leaving four hopefuls left to fight it out. What happens next in the Tory leadership race? Tory MPs have now whittled the field of challengers down to just four candidates. By the end of today they will have selected the final two. Two ballots have been scheduled to take place tomorrow, with the result of the first expected at 1pm. The candidate with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated and assuming that whoever finishes third decides to continue in the race, there will then follow another round of voting. The result of what would be the fifth and final round will then be announced at 6pm. At that point Tory MPs will have completed their part of the leadership contest and the remaining two candidates will then be put to Conservative Party members to choose from. The final pair will have to face a series of 16 hustings events over the next month with Theresa May's replacement expected to be announced in the week starting July 22. Mr Johnson picked up support from Mr Raab, who was evicted in the previous round, to increase his tally again from 126 to 143 - tightening his grip on the keys to Downing Street. While Hunt came second with 54 votes, Gove came third with 51, and Javid on 38. Finishing a disappointing fourth, Mr Javid insisted last night he was still in the race to become Prime Minister. But Mr Johnson's team have already approached the home secretary and offered 'all sorts of jobs up to that of chancellor', if he drops out the race and backs Boris. The remaining candidates not named Johnson are now desperately vying for Rory Stewart's backers, with pressure being put on them to support Mr Hunt to leave Mr Gove isolated. Johnson supporters are thought to believe that facing Mr Hunt in the final two would be easier than taking on Mr Gove. Many of Johnson's team have a 'visceral hatred' for the environment secretary and were directly accused by Mr Stewart of dirty tricks yesterday. Speaking ahead of the vote, he told reporters the former defence secretary Gavin Williamson, who is organising Mr Johnson's campaign, was encouraging Johnson-supporting MPs to lend their votes to other candidates to manipulate the contest in a bid to determine who he would face in the final run-off. He told reporters: 'There's also the dark arts. Gavin Williamson's proxy votes, which we don't know about. 'There are dark arts in politics and they're done with proxy votes, they're not done with someone saying 'would you please vote for this person'.' Some Tory MPs last night said they suspected the Johnson camp of lending support to Mr Stewart in Tuesday's vote in order to get rid of Brexiteer rival Dominic Raab. Michael Gove (pictured left, yesterday) has never been forgiven for betraying Mr Johnson in the 2016 leadership contest. It is thought Johnson's team have approached Mr Javid to be chancellor Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility