LONDON

Britain’s ruling Conservative Party on Tuesday announced that six candidates remain in the race to become the new leader of the Conservative Party and country.

The candidates are former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, head of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Tom Tugendhat, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Attorney General Suella Braverman, and former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch.

Today, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and current Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi both failed to garner enough support to continue to the next round.

So far, Sunak has the most support among Conservatives MPs with 88 votes, and Mordaunt is second with 67 votes.

Zahawi said: “Clearly my part in the contest has now ended. My priority is my work as chancellor of the Exchequer.”

Hunt, who came in second place to Boris Johnson in the 2019 leadership race, said: "It's become obvious to me you only get one big shot at this, and I had mine in 2019.

"Nevertheless, it's clear that our party has an exciting future, with the amazing array of talent on offer in this contest, and I feel confident that we are on track to win back trust."

Conservative MPs will vote again tomorrow as they continue to whittle down the contenders to just two candidates; the process could take until the end of next week.

Once two candidates remain, the Conservative Party’s 160,000 members will choose between them, with the result to be announced on Sept. 5.

The winner will become the leader of the Conservative Party and take over from Boris Johnson as British prime minister.

Johnson has refused to back any candidate, saying he did not want to damage anyone’s chances.