Indian-origin Rishi Sunak has come very close to becoming the Prime Minister of Britain. Former British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has secured the most votes in the first round of voting to be elected leader of the Conservative Party. Sunak secured 88 votes. Sunak was followed by Commerce Minister Penny Mordent with 77 votes and Foreign Minister Liz Truss with 55 votes.
Meanwhile, former cabinet minister Jeremy Hunt and current chancellor Nadim Jahavi withdrew from the race for leadership after the first round of voting. They failed to garner the 30 votes needed to make it to the next round. Now the frontrunners in the race for British PM are Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Trade Minister Penny Mordant.
Sunak continues to lead the race and is said to have the support of the maximum number of MPs. Starting his campaign, 42-year-old Sunak said, “I am running a positive campaign which is focused on what benefits can my leadership bring to the party and the country.” After winning the contest in the voting, Sunak through to the second round.
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Although Sunak has maintained a steady lead among his Tory parliamentary allies, the Conservative Party’s membership base appears to favor Penny Mordant. The next round of voting for 358 Conservative members of parliament is scheduled for Thursday to choose their preferred candidate via ballot.
Britain’s new prime minister will be elected on 5 September and will face the prime minister’s initial questions in parliament on 7 September. The final two candidates will be selected in a phased manner after the second phase of polling on Thursday. After which the leader of the party will be announced. Only after this the leader will be sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Britain. Until then, Boris Johnson will remain the caretaker prime minister.