Rishi Sunak leads race to become UK PM after latest Tory leadership vote

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak has come out on top in the latest round of voting by Conservative MPs to decide Britain's next prime minister, followed by bookmaker favourite Penny Mordaunt.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss — the favoured candidate of Boris Johnson loyalists — was third with 64 in the second round of voting by Conservative MPs on Thursday, after formally launching her campaign with vows of tax cuts and a smaller state.

Mordaunt earlier came under blistering attack after she surged in the race to succeed Johnson, as another long-shot candidate for leader was eliminated.

The little-known Mordaunt, a committed Brexiteer who was briefly Britain's first woman defence secretary before she was demoted to less senior roles, has emerged as the darling of Tory grassroots members.

The Royal Navy reservist again came a strong second with 83 votes, behind former finance minister Sunak with 101.

Meanwhile, Truss said she would be ready "from day one" to fix the enfeebled UK economy and take on Russian President Vladimir Putin over the conflict in Ukraine, promising "an aspiration nation".

Attorney General Suella Braverman was eliminated from the race after coming last, with the five remaining candidates proceeding to the next round of voting by Tory MPs on Monday.

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Leadership race

Polls point to Mordaunt beating Sunak, Truss and the others comfortably, once the party members decide between the final two candidates in the coming weeks.

But Mordaunt was savaged by her former boss in the Brexit ministry, David Frost, who called her unfit for office. And she is barely known nationally.

Mordaunt's political enemies have jibed at "Part-time Penny", alleging she has not taken her government roles seriously.

Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, after his elimination on Wednesday, threw his support behind Sunak, whose resignation from the cabinet last week helped spark a ministerial revolt against Johnson after months of scandal.

Drawing a pointed contrast to Johnson, Hunt said the former chancellor of the exchequer was "one of the most decent, straight people with the highest standards of integrity" in politics.

But the wealthy Sunak faces questions about his family's tax affairs and his prior decision to retain US residency.

And he is opposed to immediate tax cuts to confront a post-pandemic cost-of-living crisis, stressing the need instead for fiscal responsibility. "I don't judge people by their bank accounts, I judge them by their character," Sunak told BBC radio.

"And I think people can judge me by my actions over the past couple of years," he said, pointing to the economic support he designed as chancellor during the pandemic.

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