Rishi Sunak bags more votes to extend lead in UK PM race

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended his lead in the race to replace Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister as he added 14 more votes to his tally in the latest round of voting by Tory members of ParliamentSunak 42 has consistently topped the shortlist since voting began last week and on Monday he bagged 115 votes in the third round which leaves only four candidates in the raceTrade Minister Penny Mordaunt is holding on to second place with 82 votes followed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss with 71 votes and former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch at 58 votes Tom Tugendhat Tory backbencher and House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chair dropped his tally from the previous 32 to 31 votes and was knocked out of the contest with the least votesAlso read Facts about Indianorigin Rishi Sunak who could replace outgoing UK PMThe fourth round of voting will take place on Tuesday at the end of which another candidate with the least votes will be eliminated to edge towards a final shortlist of just two candidates by ThursdayThe battle remains poised for the allimportant second spot with all eyes on the candidate who will go head to head with Sunak in the final leg of the race as the former finance ministers lead seems to be crystalisingWhile Sunak picked up 14 more votes from the previous round of 101 Mordaunt dropped one from 83 in the second voting round last week Truss has improved her tally from 64 and Badenoch is up from 49 in the last roundThe magic number is seen as 120 with the candidate receiving the backing of at least 120 of his or her Conservative Party colleagues guaranteed a spot in the final shortlist of two candidates to compete for the Tory membership votesThe last few rounds of voting are being held this week as a third live television debate scheduled to be hosted by Sky News on Tuesday evening was cancelled after the channel said both Sunak and Truss had declined to take partIt is believed the decision is influenced by the clashes between the two candidates over disagreements on tax and economic measures as former Cabinet colleagues in the Johnson led governmentThe tension played out live on air as Truss clashed with Sunak repeatedly during an ITV debate on Sunday sparking concerns of damaging Tory infighting A snap poll after the debate put Sunak in the lead but Truss was trailing in last placeAccording to the BBC the foreign minister wants to focus on hustings between Tory MPs who hold the current voting power and Sunaks camp has indicated that he would be open to more debates if he qualifies for the final twoThe cancellation of Tuesdays debate comes amid concerns in the Tory party about the harsh tone of the campaignAfter the next few rounds of voting on Tuesday and Wednesday to further whittle down the shortlist further the final two candidates in the fray will be known by ThursdayThe duo will then hold hustings in different parts of the UK to try and win over the Conservative Partys membership of around 160000 eligible voters to cast postal ballots in their favour The winner of that ballot will go on to be elected the new Tory leader and take over from caretaker Boris Johnson as the new British Prime Minister by September 5This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever