12th July, 2022
Nigeria-born Kemi Badenoch and seven other candidates have cleared the first hurdle in the race to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The other candidates who received at least 20 nominations are: Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Tom Tugendhat, Liz Truss and Nadhim Zahawi
The eight candidates will compete to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party, the committee in charge of organising the leadership contest said on Tuesday.
Lawmakers Sajid Javid and Rehman Chishti had expressed their intention to run, but withdrew before the final list of candidates was announced.
“There is an abundance of both ideas and talent in our party. One of the candidates will be given the honour of becoming prime minister,” Javid said in a statement.
“I look forward to seeing the debate unfold and to see colleagues working together as a united Conservative Party once the leadership election is concluded.”
The first round of voting begins on Wednesday.