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UK leadership race: Sunak leads first round to replace Johnson

Wednesday, 13 July 2022 5:24 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 13 July 2022 6:03 PM ]

Former British Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) Rishi Sunak (AFP)

Britain’s former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has won the first round of voting to succeed Boris Johnson as the next Conservative leader and prime minister.

Sunak, the 42-year-old Tory MP who was born in the UK's Southampton to Indian-origin parents, emerged on top with 88 votes.

Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt came in second place with 67 votes and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss third with 50 votes.

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt were eliminated from the race. Another round of voting will be held on Thursday.

The race is expected to be narrowed to two by the end of next week, and then around 160,000 Tory members will have to choose one of them.

The result is due to be announced on 5 September, with the winner will take over in Downing Street on the same day.

Sunak, whose resignation helped trigger the downfall of Johnson last week, was quoted as saying by the BBC he felt "great" about the result.

Johnson resigned after losing support of ministers and most Tory lawmakers. He expressed regret he couldn’t remain as prime minister, but made no apologies.

Opposition Labour Party and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Johnson should not be allowed to stay as caretaker prime minister. Johnson had survived confidence vote of the Conservative lawmakers only a month ago.

His premiership came to an end at a time when the United Kingdom is going through an economic crisis.

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