Britain, June 14: Member of parliament (MP) Boris Johnson has on Thursday overwhelmingly won the first session of polls in the race to replace British Prime Minister Theresa May from the posts of PM and Conservative Party leader, with numbers of candidate falling to seven from ten.
Three contenders – Andrea Leadsom, Mark Harper, and Esther McVey – were knocked out in the secret ballot of Tory MPs.
According to Dawn news reports, the Brexit-supported ex-foreign minister has cast 114 out of the 313 votes in a secret ballot of the Conservative Party lawmakers in the UK lower house of commons. Rival Jeremy Hunt received 43 votes in favour and Michael Gove also received 37 votes.
In a tweet, Johnson said, “Thank you to my friends and colleagues in the Conservative & Unionist Party for your support. I am delighted to win the first ballot, but we have a long way to go.”
Thank you to my friends and colleagues in the Conservative & Unionist Party for your support. I am delighted to win the first ballot, but we have a long way to go.https://t.co/tGRXu94CmT | @BackBoris pic.twitter.com/zVBNls2rew
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 13, 2019
“Obviously we’re happy with the results but there’s still a long way to go to winning the contest,” a spokesman for Johnson told reporters.