Face of Nation : The Tory leadership BBC debate host asked the straightforward question to all five Tory candidates in the run to replace Theresa May as they struggle to come up to a clear answer on the delivery of Brexit by October 31. Ms Maitlis shocked the leadership hopefuls – as they fought to talk over each other – when she asked: “I haven’t heard anyone, anyone on the stage guarantee yet – can you just raise your hand if you guarantee to leave by October 31?”
As all candidates ignored the question, she added: “Just raise your hand if you can guarantee that.
“Okay, no one.”
The five remaining Tory contenders in the race to lead the Conservative Party and become UK’s next Prime Minister have pledged to deliver Brexit on October 31 with a renegotiated deal.
But while frontrunner Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Sajid Javid have claimed to be prepared to take the UK out of the EU without an agreement, Rory Stewart, Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt have claimed to be prepared to request a further delay to the process if necessary.
Both Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove said a delay beyond October 31 may be necessary if a deal was within reach.
Foreign Secretary Mr Hunt said he would walk away without a deal if there was no prospect of agreement by October 31.
But “if we were nearly there, then I would take a bit longer”.
Mr Gove said he would be prepared to allow “extra time” if a deal was close.
He said he was “upset” and “angry” that Brexit had not yet happened.
“Because I started this, I will finish it,” the prominent Brexit-backer said.
Rory Stewart said it would not be possible to negotiate a new deal by October 31, leaving the existing Withdrawal Agreement as the only way out of the EU.
“I would say to all these people on the platform who voted for the deal: take the shock of the European election, let’s get on with it, let’s vote it through, let’s get it done.”
It comes as Boris topped the second round of the contest with 126 votes against Jeremy Hunt’s 46 votes and Michael Gove’s 41.
But the real surprise of the leadership race tonight was International Development Secretary Rory Stewart.
Boris Johnson received eight more votes than at the end of the first round with 126, while Mr Stewart received 18 more votes than the first round, as he secured 37 votes.
Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab was the only one to fail to make it through to the next round with just 30 votes.
