Its Sunak vs Truss! Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss final two candidates to become UK Prime Minister

London, Jul 21: 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 Penny Mordaunt was knocked out of the contest on Wednesday (Jul 21). International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt was knocked out in the final round of ballot among Conservative lawmakers.

 

 

 

 

Rishi Sunak won 137 votes, while Truss received 113 in the final round. 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 Sept 5, will automatically become UK's next Prime Minister, replacing outgoing Boris Johnson. Rishi Sunak, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, topped the first round with 88 votes, according to Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative Backbench 1922 Committee.

 

 

 

 

 

The other five survivors were International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt (67 votes), Foreign Secretary Liz 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 outgoing Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the UK after the third round of voting concluded on July 18. Tom Tugendhat, House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, was knocked out of the race as he received the fewest votes.

 

 

The four survivors were former Sunak (115 votes), Mordaunt (82 votes), Truss (71 votes), and Badenoch (58 votes). Indian-origin former UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak retained the lead in the fourth round of voting on Tuesday (Jul 19) to succeed Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, while one candidate was eliminated.