In the first round of elections for the leadership of the British Conservative Party, former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak won the majority of votes

Members of the British Parliament from the Conservatives held the first round of elections for the head of the party, who will replace Boris Johnson in this post.

In the first round, applicants had to get at least 30 votes. Six people completed this task. Two candidates - former British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and current Treasury Secretary Nadhim Zahavi - dropped out.

Among those who advanced to the next round, former finance minister Rishi Sunak won the most votes, with 88 MPs supporting his candidacy, writes BBC News. Britain's junior trade policy secretary Penny Mordaunt received 67 votes and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss 50 votes.

The second round also included former Minister for Equality and Local Government Kemi Badenoch (40 votes), Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Tom Tugendhat (37 votes) and Attorney General of England and Wales Swella Braverman (32 votes).

• On July 14, a new round of voting will take place, after which the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated. Then the voting will be repeated until there are two candidates left. Also, one of the contenders may refuse to continue the fight, then fewer rounds will be required.
• The candidacies of two applicants who have passed all rounds of the elections will be submitted for consideration by all members of the Conservative Party. The winner will be announced on September 5th.