FORMER CHANCELLOR TOPS FIRST ROUND OF LEADERSHIP CONTEST TO REPLACE BORIS JOHNSON

by Emma James SEO Expert

Conservative MPs voted to appoint Rishi Sunak as the next party leader and prime minister, while eliminating two other rivals.

88 of the party's 358 MPs supported Mr Sunak, who resigned as finance minister last week.

Penny Mordaunt, junior trade minister, was third with 67 votes, followed by Liz Truss, foreign minister, with 50 votes.

In the examination of the candidates, former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch received 40 votes, while chair of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat received 37 votes, and Attorney General Suella Braverman received 32 votes.

On Thursday, a second round will be held for the six candidates.

As a result of failing to garner the required 30 votes, Nadhim Zahawi succeeded Mr Sunak as finance minister last week. Former foreign minister Jeremy Hunt also failed to qualify for the voting.

The three candidates join three others who dropped out the day before.

By July 21, two candidates will be left in the race, divided by the number of votes each received.

200,000 Conservative members across Britain will then choose the new leader from these two. September 5 will be the date of the announcement of the winner.

YouGov polls found that Ms Mordaunt was the favourite in the run-off, beating any of the other contenders, despite being the least popular candidate with his colleagues.

Despite having a big lead over her rivals, Mr Sunak fared badly and became the favorite of the bookmakers.

There are many scandals surrounding Mr Johnson, from his breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules to his appointment of an MP to government even though he was informed of allegations of sexual misconduct. It will be a daunting task for whomever wins to rebuild public trust bruised by a series of scandals.

People are being squeezed by the tightest financial squeeze in decades due to rocketing inflation, high debt, and low growth in the British economy.

Fuel prices have skyrocketed as a result of the energy crunch caused by the war in Ukraine.

A series of eye-catching tax cuts pledges have been offered by some candidates as the election contest intensifies. Rival camps are trading barbs and offering eye-catching promises as the election contest intensifies.

As for offering more spending and lower taxes, Mr Sunak said he was offering honesty, not fairytales ”.