Rishi Sunak Again Wins Most Votes In Second Round Of British PM Candidate Election, Attorney General Suella Braverman Is Eliminated

Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt. (Wikimedia Commons/Chris McAndrew)

JAKARTA - Former British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak won the most votes in the second round of voting, the election of the candidate for leader of the Conservative Party and British Prime Minister, replacing Boris Johnson.

Sunak was at the top of the list with 101 votes, followed by Junior Commerce Secretary and favorite Penny Mordaunt with 83 and Foreign Minister Liz Truss with 64.

The other candidates, MP Tom Tugendhat received 32 votes and Kemi Badenoch received 49 votes. Meanwhile, Attorney General Suella Braverman was eliminated with 27 votes, unable to meet the minimum achievement of 30 votes.

Earlier, Sunak had 88 votes, ahead of junior commerce minister Penny Mordaunt with 67 and Foreign Minister Liz Truss with 50 in the first round.

MP Kemi Badenoch received 40 votes, Tom Tugendhat received 37 and Suella Braverman received 32. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi and former cabinet minister Jeremy Hunt were eliminated.

Boris Johnson, who won a massive majority in December 2019, announced last week that he would be stepping down after multiple resignations from ministers and with many Conservative Party lawmakers in open rebellion.

The next vote will be held among Conservative lawmakers, eliminating the candidate with the fewest votes each time, to narrow the field to two finals on July 21. The new leader will then be chosen from among the two by the 200,000-member Conservative party, with the final results to be announced on September 5.