The former British Indian Chancellor received 118 votes in the fourth round of voting by his party colleagues, just missing the 120-mark, or one-third of Conservative Party MPs, needed to secure his position as one of the remaining candidates in the race to succeed Boris Johnson.
Sanak To replace Boris Johnson
Tuesday’s vote saw Kemi Badenoch become the most recent candidate to drop out, while Rishi Sunak came out on top to move even closer to his position as one of the two candidates who will compete to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and British Prime Minister.
The 42-year-old leader raised his vote total from Monday’s 115, while Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt both received 86 votes, leaving the contest for second place to be decided. Even while Mordaunt maintains her lead with 10 more votes than on Monday, Truss, who is currently in third place, has gained the most support from her previous total of 71.
The attention will now shift to where the former equalities minister Badenoch’s substantial support among Conservative MPs will go as those MPs are courted by both Mordaunt and Truss to strengthen their prospects of securing that crucial second position. Badenoch was eliminated from the race with 59 votes.
After the fifth round of voting on Wednesday, the Conservative Party headquarters will assume control of the contest and organise hustings around the UK to determine the last two candidates.
The next step will be to persuade the estimated 160,000 members of the Tory party to support one of the two remaining candidates in the general election.
The results of those votes will be tallied near the end of August, and the victor will be declared by September 5. On September 7, the new residents of 10 Downing Street will answer their first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons.
Since Boris Johnson resigned on July 7 in the wake of Sunak and numerous other Cabinet ministers declaring their lack of confidence in his leadership in the face of a string of scandals at the centre of his cabinet, it has been a challenging few weeks for the Tory party.
This week, Johnson presided over his final Cabinet meeting as caretaker Prime Minister. When Parliament reconvenes in September with a new Tory leader, Johnson is anticipated to serve as a backbench Tory MP.
