Sunak heads race to become UK PM after latest vote

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak came out on top in the latest round of voting on Thursday by Conservative MPs to decide Britain's next prime minister, followed by bookmaker favourite Penny Mordaunt.

Sunak won the support of 101 Tory lawmakers, followed by Mordaunt on 83 votes, Liz Truss on 64, Kemi Badenoch on 49, Tom Tugendhat on 32 and Suella Braverman on 27.

Braverman drops out as the last-placed candidate, the party announced.

MPs will have successive votes until the party membership is asked to choose between the last two candidates. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation last week after a rebellion by his own MPs.

Sunak, Mordaunt and Truss also led the field when the first round of voting was held on Wednesday.