Race to replace U.K.'s Boris Johnson narrows after 2 candidates eliminated

Rishi Sunak.
(Image credit: Carl Court/Getty Images)

The race to replace resigning U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson got a bit smaller on Wednesday, after candidates Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi were knocked out of the contest, The Associated Press reports.

The former health secretary and treasury chief, respectively, were unable to garner the necessary 30 votes from Conservative lawmakers required to stay in the running. The remaining six aspirants will now work to win over both ousted candidates' supporters. Additional rounds of voting are scheduled for Thursday and if, needed, "next week, until just two candidates remain," writes AP.

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Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.