Foreign secretary Liz Truss, a loyal lieutenant of Boris Johnson, is stealing up on second place in the drawn-out process to pick a Conservative Party leader.
| The race to become Britain’s next prime minister looks increasingly likely to become a straight fight between two of the most senior members of Boris Johnson’s cabinet, with each having to put distance between themselves and their former boss.whittling down the eight-strong field before a vote of the party’s grassroots membersKemi Badenoch’s spirited campaign has ended, but she’ll almost certainly get a cabinet job under any new leader.
Ms Mordaunt, who represents the socially liberal wing of the party that was ascendant under former prime minister David Cameron, gained 10 extra votes for a total of 92. That has created a sense of momentum around her bid, which seemed to falter amid a split on the party’s right and a lacklustre performance in a television debate last Friday.
The online and postal vote of the party’s membership, which is thought to number up to 200,000 people, will run for more than five weeks. The result will be announced on September 5, and the winner takes over as prime minister the next day.
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