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Britain’s Sunak leads Tory MPs’ latest vote as race narrows to three

#Britains #Sunak #leads #Tory #MPs #latest #vote #race #narrows

Britain’s former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak again led the Conservative MPs’ final vote to elect a new prime minister, as another candidate was eliminated and three contenders remained in the running.

Sunak received 118 votes, followed by former Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt at 92 and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss at 86, while lead candidate Kemi Badenoch lags behind at 59 and is therefore eliminated from the contest.

The vote means Britain will either have its first British-Asian prime minister or the third female leader in the country’s history.

Sunak, whose resignation helped oust outgoing leader Boris Johnson, fell two votes short of the number needed to guarantee a spot in the last two who will face off over the summer months before party members choose the winner Select.

He’s all but guaranteed to make the final cut in MPs’ final round of voting on Wednesday.

But the race to join him continued to heat up, with Truss receiving five votes on Mordaunt – the one-time bookmaker’s favourite.

Truss is now just six behind and is hoping the party’s right wing will pivot behind her following the departure of Badenoch, a grassroots favourite.

A YouGov poll released before the vote showed Badenoch would beat the remaining candidates with the all-important members and Sunak would lose to them by a wide margin.

Mordaunt had previously conducted the same survey.

She is now succeeding Truss after a devastating few days during which her former boss, former British Brexit pointman David Frost, criticized her work ethic and questions about her stance on trans rights were raised.

– Race gets personal –

In a statement following Tuesday’s vote, Mordaunt said: “We are so close to the finish line. I look forward to taking my case to members across the country and winning.”

The BBC announced on Tuesday that it will host a live televised debate with the last two candidates on Monday, which all remaining candidates will take part in if they pass.

Sky News on Monday scrapped a planned debate between the remaining contenders after Sunak and Truss withdrew.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on July 7 that he was stepping down as Conservative leader after a government rebellion in protest at his scandal-ridden government.

After his government survived a vote of confidence on Monday, Johnson will now almost certainly remain prime minister until his successor is announced on September 5.

In the UK parliamentary system, the leader of the largest party is the Prime Minister and can be changed during the term of office without the need to call a general election.

Johnson chaired his final cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning and will face his final weekly question-and-answer session with MPs in Parliament on Wednesday.

In the two previous televised debates – on Channel 4 on Friday and the ITV network on Sunday – contenders particularly squabbled over whether to cut taxes to ease a mounting cost-of-living crisis.

But Sunday’s clash grew more acrimonious – and personal – with candidates encouraged to directly criticize each other and their proposals.

Sunak called on Truss to have voted against Brexit, her past membership in the Liberal Democrats and her position on taxation.

In return, Truss questioned Sunak’s responsibility for the economy.

Badenoch attacked Mordaunt for her stance on transgender rights – a rallying cry in the “culture wars” in which Tory law is exercised.

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#Britains #Sunak #leads #Tory #MPs #latest #vote #race #narrows

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