Former British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Liz Truss were confirmed by 1922 Committee Chairman Graham Brady on Wednesday as the last two standing candidates in the UK Prime Minister race.
In the fifth round of voting Sunak kept the lead he had ever since round one and managed to go over the 120 threshold, which makes up one third of 357 Members of Parliament, gaining 137 votes. Truss, who was in third last round, succeeded in beating UK Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt by garnering 113 votes, while the latter, who has been holding the second spot so far, was the latest candidate to be eliminated from the race.
The new Prime Minister will be announced on September 5. Previously, outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressed that his successor should "stay close to the Americans, stick up for the Ukrainians, stick up for freedom and democracy everywhere."
