© AP
Finance Minister Nadim Zahawi and former Health Minister Jeremy Hunt will no longer be eligible to succeed Boris Johnson as UK party leader and prime minister after the first round of voting. British media reported that the Conservative Party announced this on Wednesday. Six candidates remain.
source: BELGA
The candidates needed the support of 30 MPs to advance to the second round. So both Hunt and Zahawi failed to do so.
Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak won the first round with 88 votes, according to BBC News. He is followed by Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Penny Mordaunt (67 votes) and Secretary of State Liz Truss (50).
A new round of voting for the six remaining candidates will take place on Thursday among Tory MPs. The candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated. This process continues until two candidates remain. After that, all party members can express their preferences. The intention is that on September 5th it will be announced who will succeed Boris Johnson as party leader and prime minister.
