Ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak succeded the most votes in the prime round of voting to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister, as two candidates were eliminated.

Sunak, whose resignation contributed to Johnson's demise last week, pulled ahead early in the competition to succeed him. Six parliamentarians are competing to lead the Conservative Party and the nation after two candidates were eliminated from the campaign to succeed the UK Prime Minister today.

Jeremy Hunt, a former health secretary, and Nadhim Zahawi, the Treasury secretary, fell short of the required 30 votes from Conservative legislators to remain in the race. 

Sunakreceived 88 votes, while Penny Mordaunt, the minister of trade, received 67, and Liz Truss, the secretary of state, received 50. Those still in the contest encoccunter another round of voting on Thursday.

Around 160,000 Tory members will then choose which candidate they want to be the next party leader and prime minister after the field has been reduced to two by the end of next week. The result will be announced on 5 September.

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