Sunak Top as Six Candidates Make Second Round of UK PM Race

Former UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has secured the most votes from Tory MPs after the first round of voting, in the race to succeed Boris Johnson as UK Prime Minister.

In an 8-person field, Nadhim Zahawi and Jeremy Hunt were eliminated from the race, following the end of first round of voting.

The remaining candidates left in the leadership contest are:

Kemi Badenoch – 40 votes
Suella Braverman – 32 votes
Penny Mordaunt – 67 votes
Rishi Sunak – 88 votes
Liz Truss – 50 votes
Tom Tugendhat – 37 votes

Candidates needed at least 30 MPs to support them to progress to a second round – neither Hunt nor Zahawi managed this.

Those six who made it will now proceed to a series of votes among MPs, eliminating the last placed candidate in each round until a final two are left.

This process is set to be completed by Parliament’s summer recess on 21 July.

The remaining pair will then face Conservative party members at a series of hustings around the country over the summer, who will vote to select the new leader, and therefore prime minister.

Editor

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