London, June 19: Conservative leadership candidate and Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson has on Tuesday took one step closer to becoming new prime minister of the United Kingdom (UK) with winning some 40 per cent of votes in favour in a second round of the contest over a vows to leave the European Union (EU) as scheduled on October 31.
According to Reuters news reports, Johnson was favoured with 126 against 313 votes and entered the third poll ballot on Wednesday between 14:00 GMT and 16:00 GMT with other four PM candidate who has won 33 votes and so on.
The ex-foreign minister was very much ahead of other candidates, stretching a lead in the race of PM and conservative party leaders which makes Johnson inevitable victor replacing British Prime Minister Theresa May and lead the nation on four-time dismissed Brexit negotiations with Brussels.
During his BBC debate, Johnson reiterated his promise he would take the UK out of the bloc as scheduled on October 31, saying the only way to leave the EU is no-deal Brexit and focus on winning a new trade deal.
“We must come out on the 31st of October because, otherwise I am afraid we face a catastrophic loss of confidence in politics,” Johnson said.
“October 31 is eminently feasible. Let me just say if we now say that we have a deadline that is not a deadline and we allow October 31 to come and go as March came and went and April came and went I think the public will look upon us with increasing mystification.”
With Johnson on the first place, British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt was on the second place in the race, along with Home Secretary Sajid Javid, International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, and Environment Secretary Michael vying to prove they are the toughest challenger.
The left five candidates will face each other in ballots until the race is left with only two candidates, who will be slated to face a postal ballot of largely pro-Brexit members of the Conservative Party. By the end of July, a new prime minister would be declared.