UK leadership hunt: Tory leader Jeremy Hunt backs Rishi Sunak for PM
(File photo) Hunt said Sunak is the "one of the most decent people" in British politics
Jeremy Hunt, UK’s former health secretary who lost the first round of voting, has said that he is backing former chancellor Rishi Sunak in the race to be Conservative leader and prime minister.
In the last leadership election in 2019, Hunt came second to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
In an interview to BBC, Hunt spoke about his defeat saying, “Politics is about momentum, I'm afraid I didn't have it this time.”
When he was asked who he is backing, Hunt named Sunak, saying that he is "one of the most decent people" he had met in British politics.
When further queried, he said that the Indian-born former chancellor was someone of "formidable ability who has been thinking about the right thing to do for our economy, for families up and down the country, very hard over the last two years".
The former minister remained hopeful of the current race saying that it produced an "excellent list of candidates" which proved that the Conservative Party was "modern and outward-looking".
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"In a period when we need to rebuild trust with the electorate that shows we are in tune with modern Britain," he said.
Sunak won the first round of voting by MPs to choose the next Conservative leader and prime minister. He got 88 votes.
Trade minister Penny Mordaunt came second (67) and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was palced third (50).
Other rounds of voting are expected to take in the next few days with the remaining candidates Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat and Suella Braverman.
The final two will then be elected through a ballot of Conservative Party members. The result is expected on September 5.
The race for next leadership comes after Johnson announced his resignation last week, months after receiving criticism over lockdown parties in Downing Street and other issues.
(With inputs from agencies)
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