10 Mp’s have been whittled down to two after Gove was knocked out by Hunt for PM post, two heavyweights with the decades of experience Boris and Hunt, in less than 32 days it will be finalized who will take the keys of Downing Street. The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is set to go head-to-head against Boris Johnson, the gaffe-prone former mayor of London, in the final round of the fight to become Britain’s next prime minister.
Johnson is the favorite to take the title, but after a subdued campaign, he has yet to land the knockout blow that will see him emerge victorious as the new leader of the Conservative Party – and by default take the keys to Number 10 Downing Street, the official residence and office of the country’s prime minister.
May’s successor will face the same parliamentary arithmetic that prevented her from governing with a majority, along with a public which appears to be disenchanted with Brexit and the way it is being delivered, as well as with the British political leadership as a whole.
In the final secret ballot of the 313 Conservative MPs, Michael Gove, once a close ally of Johnson, secured 75 votes, having punched above his weight in the previous round of voting when he surged into second place.
In the leadership contest three years ago, Gove landed a low blow to scupper his friend’s chances by declaring his own bid on the day Johnson was due to announce his candidacy. Gove said Johnson was simply “not up to the job” of leading the country.
Ten candidates stood in the first round of the MPs’ secret votes; they have now been pared down to two. The decision on who will lead the country of some 65 million people will now be put by postal ballot to the 160,000 members of the Conservative Party. The new prime minister will be named in the week of July 22.