Rishi Sunak gains an early advantage in the British Prime Minister’s race

London: Former British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday became a top candidate in the race to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, winning nearly a quarter of the votes in the first round of the Leadership Contest.

Snacks from India won 88 of the 358 possible votes in the opening vote of Conservative lawmakers.

Snack told the BBC that he felt “great” about the results.

Team Snack said: “He won a quarter of the party’s vote and there are eight candidates on the field.”

Trade Policy Minister Penny Mordaunt came in second with 67 votes, followed by Foreign Minister Liz Truss with 50 votes.

Mordant was modest and responded to her strong second place, saying, “I’m honored.”

Of the rest, Minister of Equality and Level Up, Chemi Badenoch, received 40 votes, and Backbench MP Tom Tugendart received 37 votes. Meanwhile, Attorney General Surah Braverman, also from India, cut with 32 votes.

Former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Nadim Zahakuwi, who took over Snacks as Finance Ministers, have won less than 30 votes (a threshold to move forward) and are now out of the race.

Zahawi said he “will not intervene anymore” in the leadership contest after failing in the second round.

In a letter posted on Twitter, he wrote that he would continue to lead the Treasury with “total focus” and thanked the supporters of his campaign.

It is not yet known who the supporters of Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi will support now.