MARK Harper was still campaigning at the weekend, despite his underdog bid to be Tory leader and Prime Minister falling at the first hurdle.

The Forest MP failed to reach the 17-vote threshold in Thursday’s (June 13) poll of Conservative MPs, securing 10 votes.

But he was back on the campaign trail in his constituency at the weekend, on a more low key scale, backing Tory candidates for Thursday’s (June 20) postponed Forest Council Newent ward election.

The former chief whip finished one ahead of backmarker Esther McVey and one behind Andrea Leadsom in the Tory leadership vote.

The trio’s exit from the leadership race left seven MPs in the running before the withdrawal of Health Minister Matt Hancock reduced the field to six, with Boris Johnson the overwhelming favourite after obtaining 114 votes in the opening ballot.

In his campaign, which included interviews on BBC2’s Newsnight and ITV’s Peston, Mr Harper positioned himself as the “serious underdog” and the “fresh start candidate”, claiming that he was the only one to have won his seat from another party and to have cabinet experience, but not served in Government under Theresa May’s premiership.

He claimed he was an “untarnished campaigner who is trusted to lead the country on from three years of broken promises and rudderless government.”

And he claimed he had a “credible, deliverable plan” to exit the EU, based on “going back to Brussels to open real and transparent discussions to change the backstop.”

But having garnered the support of six MPs to be nominated, he was only able to win over another four in the vote and bowed out.

Mr Harper tweeted after exiting the race to succeed Mrs May: “Thank you to all of the people who supported me: colleagues in Parliament and the many voters who I met along the way.

“I continue to believe we need a credible plan that delivers Brexit, keeps our promises and then takes our country forwards.

“Only then can we restore trust with the British people and beat Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party at the next General Election.”