Whoever succeeds Boris Johnson as Britain's next prime minister will face the challenges of rebuilding the government's credibility, boosting the economy and healing the divisions within the ruling Conservative Party, analysts said. #}50oWE
Five candidates have made it through to the next round of voting by party MPs in the race to lead the Conservative Party, a post that comes with the job of prime minister, after the second round of voting finished on Thursday. v:*t5M
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Former finance minister Rishi Sunak won the most votes in the latest round involving six candidates, as one contender was eliminated. u<x2"0f
Sunak, with 101 votes, was followed by International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt on 83 votes and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on 64 votes. }cK<2J#
Also surviving are former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch and backbench lawmaker Tom Tugendhat. Attorney General Suella Braverman was eliminated. .\kcWeC\
The 1922 Committee, comprising backbenchers, must whittle down the field to two candidates. The final two will go head to head in a postal ballot of Conservative Party members over the summer. The winner will be announced on Sept 5, becoming the new Tory leader and the UK's next premier. f\sxx!kt
The Tory leadership race was triggered after Johnson was forced to bow to the inevitable last week by an avalanche of resignations of cabinet ministers and junior government officials who took a stand against his scandal-plagued leadership. wYtL1D(
He Yun, an associate professor in the School of Public Administration at Hunan University in Changsha, said that due to the lingering effects of Brexit, the pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the economy has become the biggest issue in the UK. That means the candidates' perceived ability to handle the economic difficulties will be a major consideration. `=A*ei5