An increasingly tough race to replace British Prime Minister Johnson narrows to four

In the third round of voting, Sunak continued to lead
Tom Tugendhat eliminated from the race to replace Johnson
Concerned that the race could split the party in two

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) – Britain’s former finance minister Rishi Sunak held the lead in the race to become Britain’s next prime minister Monday, with another hopeful knocked out and four candidates in an increasingly tough competition to replace Boris Johnson left.

Sunak beat former defense secretary Penny Mordaunt 82 and Secretary of State Liz Truss 71 by 115 votes in Monday’s third ballot by Conservative lawmakers.

Since Johnson said he would step down earlier this month after his scandal-ridden administration lost the support of many in the ruling Conservative Party, the race to replace him has turned ugly as several contenders fired on the prominent Altar.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

On everything from his record in government to his wife’s fortune, he has faced criticism from his most likely rivals, the secretary of state, Truss and Mordaunt, who have raced to a runoff between the last two candidates. .

Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, a former military veteran and critic of Johnson with no role in the government, was eliminated from the leadership contest on Monday after receiving the fewest votes with 31 votes.

Former equality minister, Kemi Badenoch, finished fourth with 58 votes.

The 358 deputies of the ruling Conservative Party will cut the field to the last two this week, eliminating the candidate with the fewest votes each time. The results of the next vote will be announced at 1400 GMT on Tuesday.

The new prime minister will be announced in September. On January 5, after 200,000 members of the Conservative Party voted by mail over the summer.

STRONG DISCUSSION

The race has centered on commitments or commitments to lower taxes at a time when the British economy is beset by spiraling inflation, high debt and low growth that has kept people’s finances tightest in decades.

Truss also came under criticism for saying he would change the role of the Bank of England. Read more

In a televised debate on Sunday, candidates attacked each other over their recordings, and Truss and Sunak withdrew from the third scheduled debate on Tuesday amid concerns among Conservatives about candidates attacking their party mates. Read more

“The nature of the Conservative Party is to have strong debates and then unite when a new leader is elected. I have no doubt that the same will happen on this occasion,” David Jones, former Conservative Party minister, told Reuters.

Altar handed the lead to Mordaunt, who had lost his support and was one less than the number of votes he had received in the runoff.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes said on Monday that Truss, who had seven more votes in the third round than he got in the second round, is now the second favorite, ahead of Mordaunt but behind Altar.

Truss’ campaign sought to bolster his arguments for lower taxes, citing a report by the privately owned think tank The Center for Economic and Business Research that showed there was more room for maneuver from higher tax revenues.

But Michael Saunders, a senior Bank of England official, turned down a proposal that the government should set a “clear direction of travel” for monetary policy and said the foundations of Britain’s framework should not be touched. Read more

“The government is not very clear on the course of action for monetary policy,” Saunders, one of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee on rate-setting, said at a Resolution Foundation event in London.