Sunak and Truss to face off in race to be British prime minister

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss will battle it out over the coming weeks to be the UK’s next prime minister.

The former chancellor and the Foreign Secretary finished in the top two places after five rounds of voting by Tory MPs, with Penny Mordaunt eliminated from the race after a bitter contest in Westminster.

Liz Truss, left, and Rishi Sunak will go head-to-head for the Tory leadership after Penny Mordaunt, right, was eliminated (UK Parliament/PA)

Mr Sunak, the frontrunner throughout the parliamentary leg of the contest, received 137 votes in the final round of voting.

Ms Truss won 113 votes, narrowly pushing Ms Mordaunt into third place on 105.

Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will now face a campaign to win the votes of Tory members, with the result of the contest announced on September 5.

The winner is expected to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister the following day.

In a video message, Rishi Sunak told supporters “I won’t let you down”.

The former chancellor said: “I’ll work as hard as I can to get our message out to the country.

“We need to restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite our country.

“I’m confident that we can do that and we’ve got a really important positive message to take out to all our members now – crucially, who is the best person to beat Keir Starmer and the Labour Party at the next election?

“I believe I’m the only candidate who can do that.”

Mr Sunak denied lending votes to other Tory leadership candidates.

Asked if had been doing so, he said in a broadcast clip: “Absolutely not. As you can see from the results that have just been declared, this has been a really close contest.

“And I’m really humbled that I’ve made it to the next stage. I’m grateful to all my colleagues for their support.

“All I’ve been doing all day today is talking to them, outlining my vision for the country, outlining how I’m the best person to beat Keir Starmer in the next election, and I’m delighted that I’m now going to have that conversation with all our members and hopefully convince them too.”

Liz Truss was cheered by supporters after making it into the Tory leadership contest run-off.

The Foreign Secretary posed for photographs in Westminster with backers, including Attorney General Suella Braverman, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey.

When someone said it meant more hustings for Ms Truss, she quipped: “I can’t get enough of hustings.” Ms Coffey said: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re in it to win it.” The elated group held “Liz for leader” and “Trusted to Deliver” placards.

Ms Truss denied that she will be “complacent” after making it into the Tory leadership run-off.

She told Sky News: “I’m not complacent at all, I am going to be working very hard over the next six weeks to put my case to Conservative Party members.

“What I believe is that lowering taxes, opening up opportunities is going to help us deliver the economic growth that Britain needs and it’s also going to help deliver us the next election.

“I can win against Keir Starmer in 2024 – that’s my message to our members right across the country”.