London: Rishi Sunak topped another round of voting on Tuesday to edge even closer to his place as one of two candidates who will go head-to-head to be elected the new Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister, as Kemi Badenoch became the latest candidate to be out of the running.
The British Indian former Chancellor received 118 votes in the fourth round of voting by his party colleagues, just shy of the 120-mark – or one-third of Conservative Party MPs – needed to confirm his place as one of the final contenders in the race to replace Boris Johnson.
He increased his tally from Monday’s 115, while Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt got 92 votes and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss 86 votes leaving the race to clinch second place still open. The vote means that Britain will get either its first British Asian prime minister or the third female leader in the country’s history.
Sunak, whose resignation helped to topple outgoing leader Boris Johnson, is all but guaranteed to make the final cut in Wednesday’s last round of voting by MPs.