Boris Johnson Leads in First
Round of Voting for Tory Leadership The first round of voting by Conservative Members
of Parliament has occurred in the United Kingdom
and left Boris Johnson with a comfortable lead. Johnson, who launched his campaign on June 12,
received 114 votes during the secret ballot of
313 Conservative Members of Parliament. His nearest rivals were Jeremy Hunt, who received
43 votes, and Michael Gove, who received 37. Candidates Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey and
Mark Harper have been automatically eliminated
from the race for receiving less than 17 votes. Following the results of the vote, Johnson
took to Twitter to thank his supporters. Boris Johnson, via Twitter The second round of voting is scheduled to be
held on June 18, at which point candidates with
less than 33 votes will be automatically eliminated. From there, voting will continue until only
two candidates remain and face a ballot of
160,000 Conservative party members. The successor of outgoing leader Theresa May
is expected to be announced as early as July 22.