Sajid Javid pulls out; eight candidates in race to succeed UK PM Johnson

After the former Health Secretary Sajid Javid pulled out of the contest, a total of eight Conservatives are now in the race to replace Boris Johnson as party leader and British prime minister.

The remaining candidates have won enough nominations from their colleagues to go through to the first round of voting on Wednesday. The candidates had to get the support of at least 20 Tory MPs to be in the race.

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The remaining candidates are: Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi.

Reports have mentioned that just minutes before the deadline, Javid withdrew. he said that he "looked forward to seeing the debate unfold". Apart from the health minister, junior minister Rehman Chishti also pulled out of the contest.

The next process will include the first round of voting, which will take place on Wednesday. If a candidate gets less than 30 votes from their fellow MPs, she/he will have to drop out.

Further votes, over the next few days, will decide the final two candidates, who will then go to a full ballot of around 160,000 Conservative Party members over the summer.

Currently, former finance minister Rishi Sunak and foreign minister Liz Truss are top contenders for the top job.

New UK PM will be announced on September 5

The ruling Conservative party earlier said that the new prime minister to replace Johnson will be announced on September 5. Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservatives' influential 1922 Committee, told reporters: "We do need to make sure there is a decent amount of time before the result is announced on 5th September."

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