FORMER UK chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss emerged as the final two candidates in the Tory leadership race after international trade minister Penny Mordaunt was knocked out of the contest in the final round of ballot among the Conservative lawmakers on Wednesday (20).
Sunak, a leader of Indian-origin, won 137 votes, while Truss received 113 in the final round, reported Xinhua.
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The two will now go through a postal ballot among all Conservative Party members, numbering around 200,000, over the summer.
The winner, to be announced on September 5, will automatically become UK's next prime minister, replacing the outgoing Boris Johnson.
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Sunak, who was a top member of the Johnson government but quit earlier this month, topped the first round with 88 votes, according to Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative Backbench 1922 Committee.
The other five survivors were besides, Mordaunt (67 votes), Truss (50 votes), former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch (40 votes), Backbench lawmaker Tom Tugendhat (37 votes) and attorney general Suella Braverman (32 votes).
Subsequently, four candidates made it to the Tory leadership race to replace Johnson after the third round of voting concluded on Monday (18). Tom Tugendhat, House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, was knocked out of the race as he received the lowest votes.
The four survivors were former Sunak (115 votes), Mordaunt (82 votes), Truss (71 votes), and Badenoch (58 votes).
Sunak retained the lead in the fourth round of voting on Tuesday (19) to succeed Johnson while one candidate was eliminated.
Sunak came on top with 118 votes, followed by Mordaunt with 92 votes and Truss with 86 votes. Badenoch was eliminated from the contest, reducing the number of contestants to three, according to the 1922 Committee of Conservative Party backbenchers.
A total of 58 ministers quit the Johnson government following an ethics scandal which ultimately forced the UK premier to resign.
Johnson, 58, managed to remain in power for almost three years, despite allegations that he was too close to party donors, that he protected supporters from bullying and corruption allegations, and that he misled Parliament and was dishonest to the public about government office parties that broke pandemic lockdown rules.
Johnson would continue to remain in office until October as caretaker prime minister until a new Tory leader is elected.
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