Rishi Sunak’s lead narrows as race for UK leader heats up

Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt have presented policy to add momentum to their campaigns, trying to move the focus away from pledges on tax cuts [AFP]

The UK’s former finance minister Rishi Sunak has held on to his lead among Conservative lawmakers in the race to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, but his two remaining rivals are closing the gap.

However, the race remained wide open on Tuesday after the party’s members of parliament knocked former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch out of the competition, leaving Sunak, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt, a junior trade minister, as the remaining candidates.