Former British Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will face each other in a contest to lead the U.K. as Prime Minister and the Conservative Party, after a fourth round of voting by Tory lawmakers, on Wednesday afternoon, eliminated the third remaining contender, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt.
The two surviving candidates will campaign for the votes of party members through the remainder of the British summer, with the winner being announced on September 5 when the British Parliament returns from recess.
Mr. Sunak came in with 137 votes on Wednesday, a gain of 19 from Tuesday’s voting round. The largest gains were made by Ms. Truss, who won 113 votes — a gain of 27, suggesting that a bulk of the 59 votes that went to the candidate eliminated on Tuesday, former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch, had been mopped up by Ms. Truss.
Ms. Mordaunt got 105 votes, and was up 13 from Tuesday.
Words of advice from Boris Johnson
Also on Wednesday, outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson fielded his last Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), with the House of Commons going into recess on Thursday. He had words of advice for his successors.
“Stay close to the Americans,” he said. He also asked them to “stick up” for the Ukrainians and democracy, and to “cut taxes and deregulate wherever you can”.
He was given a standing ovation by his party members. His predecessor, Teresa May, could be seen standing but not clapping.
