Rishi Sunak increased his tally from 115 on Monday.
London:
Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak once again topped the latest vote of Conservative MPs to choose a new prime minister, as another candidate was eliminated leaving three candidates in the race.
Sunak garnered 118 votes, followed by former Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt with 92 votes and Secretary of State Liz Truss with 86 votes, with longtime candidate Kemi Badenoch behind 59 and thus eliminated from the contest.
The vote means Britain will get the first Asian British prime minister or the third female leader in the country’s history.
Sunak, whose resignation helped oust outgoing leader Boris Johnson, is two votes short of the number of votes needed to secure a spot among the final two, who will fight for several summer months. before party members choose a winner.
He is all but guaranteed to make the final cut in Wednesday’s final round of voting by MPs.
But the race to join him is getting tighter, with Truss taking five votes on Mordaunt – the one-time favorite bookmaker.
Truss is now down to six, and it is hoped that the party’s right wing will change behind her after the departure of Badenoch, a favorite among junior members.
A YouGov poll released before the vote showed that Badenoch would beat the remaining candidates with the most important members, and Sunak would lose to them by a margin.
Mordaunt has topped the same poll before.
Now, she’s tracked down Truss after a damaging couple of days in which her former boss, former UK Brexit leader, David Frost, downplayed her work ethic and sentences. Questions were raised about her stance on transgender rights.
Personal race
In a statement following Tuesday’s vote, Mordaunt said: “We are close to crossing the finish line. I am eager to go and excited to take my case to members around the country and win. .”
The BBC on Tuesday announced that it will host a televised debate with the final two candidates on Monday, with all remaining candidates agreeing to participate if they pass.
Sky News on Monday scrapped a planned debate between the remaining candidates after Sunak and Truss withdrew.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on July 7 that he would step down as leader of the Conservative Party after a government uprising against his scandal-ridden administration.
With his government surviving a vote of confidence on Monday, Johnson is now almost certain to remain prime minister until his successor is announced on September 5.
Under Britain’s parliamentary system, the leader of the largest party is the prime minister and can be changed mid-term without having to call a general election.
Johnson chaired his last Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning and will face his final weekly question and answer session with MPs in parliament on Wednesday.
In the two previous televised debates – on Channel 4 on Friday and the ITV network on Sunday – opponents have notably clashed over whether to cut taxes to help ease the cost crisis. activity is increasing or not.
But Sunday’s clash turned more acrimonious – and personal – with candidates encouraged to directly criticize each other and their proposals.
Sunak urged Truss to vote against Brexit, her previous Liberal Democratic Party membership and her stance on taxes.
In turn, Truss questioned Sunak’s role in managing the economy.
Badenoch attacked Mordaunt for her stance on transgender rights – a call to rally in a “culture war” for Tory rights.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the syndication feed.)
