LONDON — Liz Truss ousted Penny Mordaunt in the race to be Conservative leader and the U.K.’s next prime minister, pitching the foreign secretary into a final runoff against former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.
In a ballot of Tory MPs Wednesday, Truss won 113 votes to Mordaunt’s 105 as the trade minister’s early momentum stalled. Sunak, whose resignation helped trigger Johnson’s demise and who has led in every round, got 137 votes.
The focus now shifts to about 175,000 grassroots Tory members, who make the final choice before the winner is announced on Sept. 5.
