Indian origin Rishi Sunak, former chancellor of the UK,after round 1 leaded the race of voting to succeed Boris Jhonson as Conservative Party leader and UK PM.
In the first ballot of Conservative MPs on Wednesday, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer won 88 votes — ahead of the second-placed Penny Mordaunt with 67 votes. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was third with 50.
Also in the race is another Indian-origin member of Parliament – Attorney General Suella Braverman.
While Rishi Sunak has maintained a steady lead among his Tory parliamentary colleagues since he declared his intention to run for party leadership last week, the Conservative Party membership base which will have the final say seems to be building momentum behind Penny Mordaunt.
As per the election schedule, Jhonson’s successor is to be elected on September 5th.
The next round of elections by the 358 Conservative members of Parliament to pick their favourites left on the ballot paper is scheduled for Thursday when the field of candidates will be narrowed down even further to a shorter list of finalists.