Theresa May won the first round of the contest to become the next British prime minister and Tory leader.
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Ms Leadsom’s supporters claimed that “well over 70” Conservative MPs were now backing her.
Michael Gove could be the UK’s next prime minister.
Veteran right-winger Liam Fox – who attracted just 16 supporters among his fellow MPs – has now been knocked out of the contest. Stephen Crabb, in fourth with 34 votes dropped out.
The ballot is due to end on September 9.
Leadsom also enjoys unofficial campaigning support from the Brexit campaign Leave.eu, which says it polled its members and found her to be the firm favorite.
Leadsom, an energy minister, was also a key figure in the campaign to leave the European Union, appearing alongside Boris Johnson in some of the TV debates.
Britain’s ruling Conservative Party begins selecting a new leader to replace David Cameron as prime minister on Tuesday with interior minister Theresa May and junior minister Andrea Leadsom the leading candidates to get the top job.
The Work and Pensions Secretary, who also serves as MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire, announced his candidacy in the wake of current Prime Minister David Cameron’s resignation following a disastrous Remain EU Referendum campaign.
In an apparent swipe at Ms Leadsom – who has never held Cabinet office – Ms Morgan said: “We need to put forward two heavyweights to our people in the country to make sure they get a really genuine choice between two quite different agendas”.
The victor will become both the next leader of the ruling Conservative party and the British prime minister, tasked with negotiating the UK’s exit from the EU.
But some moderate MPs fear that right-winger Gove could beat May in the membership stage of voting, with the front-runner eventually losing, as has been the case in a number of relatively recent Tory contests. “I hope I have achieved both these objectives”.
Leadsom has defined herself in her pitch to Tory activists as a candidate who can be trusted to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union, unlike Theresa May who campaigned for Remain during the referendum. A poll of Conservative activists suggests that Leadsom also has a narrow 38%-vs-37% lead among party activists over Theresa May.
Mr Clarke, who was speaking with another Tory party figure, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who is mostly off-camera during the conversation, said he did not believe party members would vote for Justice Secretary Michael Gove.
He said he had been “overwhelmed” by colleagues’ support.
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“Andrea Leadsom is very nice but I don’t think she’s ready to be Prime Minister by a long shot”.
