• July 19, 2022

Poll says Rishi Sunak still frontrunner but will lose in final stage as race narrows down to 3 candidates

LONDON July 19: Rishi Sunak topped another round of voting on Tuesday to edge even closer to his place as one of two candidates who will go head-to-head to be elected the new Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister, as Kemi Badenoch became the latest candidate to be out of the running.

The British Indian former Chancellor received 118 votes in the fourth round of voting by his party colleagues, just shy of the 120-mark – or one-third of Conservative Party MPs – needed to confirm his place as one of the final contenders in the race to replace Boris Johnson.

He increased his tally from Monday’s 115, while Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt got 92 votes and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss 86 votes leaving the race to clinch second place still open. The vote means that Britain will get either its first British Asian prime minister or the third female leader in the country’s history.

The elimination of former equalities minister Badenoch with 59 votes will now turn the focus on where her considerable support within the Tory members of Parliament will go, as those MPs are wooed by both Mordaunt and Truss to shore up their chances of grabbing that all-important second spot.

Poll shows UK’s Sunak would lose leadership contest in final members’ vote

Meanwhile, another poll predicts that Rishi would lose to any of his remaining opponents if he makes it throught to the final stage of the contest when rank and file party members get to vote, polling showed on Tuesday.

The YouGov poll of Conservative Party members showed Sunak would lose a runoff vote against either Kemi Badenoch, Liz Truss or Penny Mordaunt. The polling was published by Sky News.