TRUSS AND SUNAK BECOME FINAL CANDIDATES IN RACE TO SUCCEED JOHNSON AS PM

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak will battle against Foreign Secretary Liz Truss after grassroots favourite Penny Mordaunt was eliminated from the running in the leadership race.

This now leaves the pair to battle for the votes of their fellow MP's later this year to secure their place as leader of the Conservative Party, following the resignation of current Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this month.

In a statement after the vote, Ms Truss said:

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"I would like to thank each and every one of my colleagues who have supported me throughout this stage of this contest. I would also like to pay tribute to every candidate who stood for the leadership. Each of them has contributed enormously to the Conservative Party and to public life.

"I am excited to now take to the country to make the case to the Conservative Party about my bold new economic plan that will cut taxes, grow our economy and unleash the potential of everyone in our United Kingdom.

Thanks to everyone for all your hard work. We go forward together."

 

Meanwhile, a statement made by Mr Sunak's campaign team, said:

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"This is a really strong result with a clear mandate from MPs.

"He will now work night and day to get the mandate from the wider Conservative party family to beat Labour, protect the Union and seize the opportunities of Brexit."

 

Mr Sunak came in first place in this round with 137 votes with Ms Truss gaining the support of 113 MP's and Ms Mordaunt coming in third place with 105 votes.

However, currently polling among the 160,000+ rank and file members suggest that in the final vote he is falling behind Ms Truss.