Badenoch drops out of race to succeed Johnson, Sunak consolidates as favorite

The Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch has been out of the race to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the ‘Tories’ and British Prime Minister on Tuesday, although the former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has managed to consolidate as favorite to win the post.

In what is already the fourth ballot to choose Johnson’s successor, the shortlist has been reduced to Sunak, with 118 votes, the UK Secretary of State for Trade, Penny Mordaunt, with 92, and the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, who has garnered 86 votes.

Thus, Badenoch, with 59 votes, has been discarded a day after the MP Tom Tugendhat met the same fate, according to information from the newspaper ‘The Guardian’. The data reflect that Truss is close to Mordaunt, which could mean that finally the successor will come out of the duel between the minister and Sunak.

The candidates are expected to be narrowed down to two this Thursday, although the name of the final successor will not be known until after the summer, which will make Johnson’s departure effective.

These two candidates will be subject to a postal ballot in which the 200,000 party members will participate. The new Conservative leader and thus the new British Prime Minister will be announced on September 5.