Rishi Sunak tops new UK PM vote, concerns over Tory infighting

By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 19, 2022, 8:08 AM IST

The race to elect a new Prime Minister replacing the caretaker Boris Johnson has narrowed down to four as Tory backbencher and House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Tugendhat bowed out of reckoning upon receiving the lowest number of votes.

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has emerged as among the top choice in the latest round of voting among the Conservative Party members of Parliament to elect a new Prime Minister to replace the caretaker Boris Johnson. The race has narrowed to four as Tory backbencher and House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Tugendhat bowed out of reckoning upon receiving the lowest number of votes.

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In the third round of voting, the former finance minister received 115 votes, followed by 82 votes for Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, 71 for Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and 58 for former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch.

Even though the top four in the race to 10, Downing Street -- the British Prime Minister's official residence -- remains largely unchanged, Sunak has gained 14 more votes from the previous round of 101. Mordaunt, meanwhile, shed one vote since the second round of voting last week.

Badenoch gained nine votes, while Truss received seven votes more than in the last round.

The candidate who receives the backing of at least 120 Conservative Party colleagues makes it to the final shortlist of two candidates to compete for the Tory membership votes.

The last few rounds of voting are being held this week as a third live television debate that was to be hosted by Sky News channel on Tuesday evening was cancelled after both Sunak and Truss declined to take part over disagreements on tax and economic measures adopted while they were part of the Boris Johnson-led government.

Truss was seen verbally clashing with Sunak repeatedly on live television during the debate hosted by ITV on Sunday, which triggered concerns of damaging Tory infighting. A snap poll after the Sunday debate put Sunak in the lead and Truss in the last place.

The Tuesday debate's cancellation comes amid concerns in the Tory party about the campaign's harsh tone. Former Cabinet minister Brandon Lewis said the campaign had been "plagued by allegations of dirty tricks and dark arts".

The senior Tory MP wrote in 'The Times' that 'aggressive briefing and counter-briefing only adds to [Opposition] Labour's research folders'. More votes are scheduled until only two candidates remain in the fray by Thursday.

The final two will then hold hustings across the country to win over the 160,000 eligible Conservative Party members to cast postal ballots in their favour. The winner of that ballot will go on to be elected the new Tory leader and take over from caretaker Boris Johnson as the new British Prime Minister by September 5.

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