The remaining four Tory leadership hopefuls will face a double-elimination today, with the result of the first secret ballot expected at around 1pm. A further vote will then take place to select the final two, leaving it up to Conservative Party members to decide who will become the next prime minister. Frontrunner Boris Johnson is almost certain to make the deciding ballot after coming out on top in each of the three rounds so far. Related articles Tory leadership fury as candidates threaten to boycott BBC debates Debate fury over BBC's failure to vet openly biased questioners Yesterday Rory Stewart became the latest contender to be eliminated from the contest, leaving Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove and Sajid Javid as the final four. Mr Johnson topped Wednesday’s third ballot with 143 votes, with Mr Stewart being knocked out after securing the backing of just 27 Tory MPs. It is too close to call who will join the former foreign secretary in the final leg of the race. The difference between Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in second, and Environment Secretary Michael Gove in third was just three votes - with 54 and 51 supporters respectively. Home Secretary Sajid Javid came in fourth place with 38 votes. FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES: Tory leadership candidates have threatened to boycott future BBC debates (Image: Getty) 8.33 update: BBC threatened with probe after leadership debate MPs have called for watchdogs to probe the BBC’s handling of its televised Tory leadership debate, due to the ensuing vetting row. The BBC has been criticised for failing to properly vet members of the public who put questions to the candidates, with two of the contributors having posted hugely offensive social media posts - something the beeb failed to spot. The TV broadcaster also failed to point out that one of the pair had worked for the Labour Party. Former Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith said there was “clear bias” against the Tories and called for regulator Ofcom to probe the BBC’s handling of the debate. He said: “The BBC must apologise and someone must be brought to book. It is appalling.” Related articles Tories attempt to BLOCK Brexiteer becoming PM Boris Johnson hopes to gain support from City figures Boris Johnson is likely to make the final two Tory leadership contenders (Image: Getty) 8.28am update: Candidates threaten to boycott BBC debates Tory leadership candidates are threatening to boycott future BBC debates after the broadcaster’s “biased” mismanagement of Tuesday night’s hustings. The BBC was blasted after it emerged an imam who had been selected to grill the prime ministerial hopefuls had written anti-Semitic tweets. Abdullah Patel, who asked a question about Islamophobia on Tuesday night, was suspended from his role as deputy headteacher and from his mosque in Gloucester. It has also emerged a second contributor was a Labour activist who had joked about Hitler. The BBC is planning to hold a special edition of Question Time with the final two candidates, but they may refuse due to the ensuing vetting row. A source close to Tory leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson told the Daily Telegraph: “It hasn’t helped the BBC’s case for hosting a Question Time-style debate. “Candidates will now be casting doubt on the Question Time format and the balance and impartiality of the BBC audience.” A source told The Times: “We are concerned about impartiality and the competence of the BBC to pick a fair audience.” The remaining four Tory leadership hopefuls will face a double-elimination today (Image: Express) 8.23am update: Rory Stewart accused Boris Johnson of deploying ‘dark arts’ Rory Stewart, who has the latest Tory leadership hopeful to be eliminated from the race, has accused the former foreign secretary of deploying ‘dark arts’ against him. The International Development Secretary, whose support plummeted by 10 votes to 27 yesterday, suggested dirty tricks had taken place involving proxy votes and support being “lent” to other candidates. During the third ballot vote, Mr Stewart raised questions about the role of former chief whip Gavin Williamson, who has been marshalling support for Mr Johnson. Mr Stewart accused Mr Johnson's camp of "dark arts" by using up to 10 of his supporters' proxy votes to lend to Mr Javid to knock him out, name-checking Mr Williamson as the man organising the plot. He said: “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.” Asked to explain, he added: “They would give their proxy votes. For example, if you’re Boris, one of your whips would have four or five votes.” 8.20am update: Boris Johnson supporters mount plan to knock out Michael Gove Supporters of Boris Johnson are expected to mount a strategy to derail Michael Gove’s leadership hopes. In the 2016 leadership contest Mr Gove stabbed Mr Johnson in the back and many of his supporters seek revenge. Backers of the former foreign secretary want to use Mr Javid as a vehicle to knock out Mr Gove from the contest, by “lending” him votes in the fourth ballot. Talks between Mr Javid’s team and Mr Johnson’s team are already said to have taken place, to guarantee the home secretary a place in the final vote. Supporters of Mr Johnson are already believed to have voted tactically, by supporting Rory Stewart in an effort to oust Dominic Raab.All rights reserved for this news site express.co.uk and under his responsibility