Rishi Sunak And Liz Truss Walk To 'Final' Of British PM Election, Favorite Mordaunt Knocked Out

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak (Wikimedia Commons/Chris McAndrew)

JAKARTA - Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Minister Liz Truss walked into the final round of the election for Conservative Party Leader, as well as British Prime Minister, after eliminating favorite Penny Mordaunt.

In the last parliamentary vote on Wednesday, Sunak came back on top with 137 votes. Meanwhile, Truss won 113 votes, slightly ahead of Mordaunt who only won 105 votes.

Whoever wins when results are announced on 5 September will inherit some of Britain's toughest conditions in decades. Inflation is set to hit 11 percent annually, growth has stalled, industrial action picks up and the pound is approaching historic lows against the dollar.

The UK under Boris Johnson, and assisted by Truss, also took a hard line against Brussels in post-Brexit negotiations around Northern Ireland, pulling legal action from the European Union and threatening future trade relations.

Polls suggest Truss will beat Sunak in the party members contest, leaving the possibility that the Conservatives choose a leader who is not the most popular choice for lawmakers.

Truss thanked several MPs outside parliament shortly after the vote was announced.

"I am in it, to win it. As prime minister I will start working from day one, uniting the party and governing according to Conservative values," Truss said in a statement to reporters.

Meanwhile, Sunak said on Twitter: "Grateful my colleagues have trusted me today. I will be working day and night to deliver our message across the country."

Mordaunt, who is only eight votes behind Truss, called on the party to unite after an often-bad leadership contest.

"Politics is not easy. This can be a divisive and difficult place. "We must all now work together to unite our party and focus on the work that needs to be done," Mordaunt said.

The two finalists will now embark on a weeks-long journey across the country before becoming party members.

"This has been one of the most unexpected contests to become the next Conservative leader in recent history," said Chris Hopkins, director of political research at polling firm Savanta ComRes.

"It's very different to recent contests where you have one clear favorite running away with him."

Tensions among the candidates have also raised questions about how well the new leader will be able to govern, with Johnson still popular in many parties and countries, while the party is increasingly divided among various factions.

Boris Johnson was forced to quit after he lost the support of his lawmakers after months of scandals, including breaches of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown rules.