Indian-origin Rishi Sunak tops second round of votes to become UK Prime Minister

London, Jul 15: Indian-origin former UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak won the most votes in the second round of voting to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, as one candidate was eliminated.

 

 

 

 

Sunak came top with 101 votes, followed by Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt on 83 votes and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on 64 votes. "Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak (101 votes), Minister of State for Trade Policy Penny Mordaunt (83), Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (64), former Minister of State for Equalities Kemi Badenoch (49), and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Tom Tugendhat (32) advanced to the next round of voting."

 

 

 

 

 

However, Attorney General Suella Braverman was eliminated with 27 votes. Rishi Sunak, the Former Chancellor of the Exchequer had topped the first round with 88 votes, according to Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative Backbench 1922 Committee. In order to pass to the next round, a minimum of supporters was not established, and the candidate with the smallest number of votes dropped out of the race.

 

 

The final two contenders will go through a postal ballot of all the Conservative members, numbering around 200,000, over the summer and the winner will be announced on Sep 5, becoming the new Tory leader and the UK's next Prime Minister.