Nigerian-born Member of the UK Parliament, Kemi Badenoch, inched further up, on Monday, in the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister.
Kemi Badenoch polled 58 votes, garnering nine more votes than the 49 she had in the second round of the ballot. She has now qualified for the fourth round.
A former British military officer, Tom Tugendhat, who scored 31 votes, the least among the five contenders in the third round race to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservatives and prime minister lost out.
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Former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak maintained the top spot, increasing his vote haul from 101 in the second round to 115. Sunak needs just five more votes to guarantee a spot in the final round of two.
Sunak is followed by junior trade secretary Penny Mordaunt who scored 82 votes, dropping one vote from the previous round.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss came third with 71 votes, chalking up seven more votes than the 64 she polled in the second round.
The four remaining contenders will face another voting round among Conservative colleagues in the parliament on Tuesday afternoon and the lawmaker who scores the least votes will drop out of the race. The balloting will continue until only two are left in the race.
The Conservative Party members will vote to decide the winner among the last two contestants on September 5.
Kemi Badenoch may not proceed beyond the fourth round of voting.
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Already, there is pressure on her camp to support Liz Truss to stop Penny Mordaunt from clinching one of the last two spots.
However, some supporters of Kemi Badenoch want the backers of Tom Tugendhat to shift their support to her as both share the same ideas on how to move the country forward.
The race to occupy Number 10 Downing Street opened following the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the party’s leader last penultimate Thursday.
Although Johnson will quit office, the country will not head to the polls until 2024. The Conservative Party that won the last parliamentary election will produce the new prime minister.
