Sunak, whose resignation helped trigger the downfall of Johnson last week, took an early lead in the race to succeed him.
In the first ballot of Conservative MPs on Wednesday, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer won 88 votes -- ahead of the second-placed Penny Mordaunt with 67 votes. Liz Truss was third with 50.
Two candidates were knocked out of the race to replace the UK Prime Minister today, leaving six lawmakers battling to lead the Conservative Party and the country.
Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi failed to reach the threshold of 30 votes by Conservative lawmakers needed to stay in the contest.
The remaining contenders will now scramble to scoop up the two men's supporters in a contest that will replace the flamboyant, scandal-ridden Johnson — a figure famous in Britain and around the world — with a new and much lesser-known prime minister.
Sunak scored 88 votes, ahead of junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt on 67 and foreign Secretary Liz Truss on 50. Zahawi and Hunt were eliminated.
Lawmaker Kemi Badenoch received 40 votes, Tom Tugendhat received 37 and Suella Braverman received 32.
The 358 Tory lawmakers had crammed into a humid corridor at Parliament on Wednesday afternoon to line up and cast their ballots in a grand room hung with oil paintings. Security staff made them hand over their phones to ensure secrecy.
Supporters of the other candidates have improbably depicted Sunak — whose heroine is former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — as a left-winger. Johnson's office has denied running a campaign to bad-mouth Sunak, whose resignation last week helped end the prime minister's reign.
A spokeswoman insisted Johnson was remaining neutral in the campaign to choose his replacement.
Johnson struck a valedictory note at his weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons. He hinted it could be his last appearance there, though he is scheduled take questions again next week, before Parliament's summer break, and to leave office on Sept. 6.
“The next leader of my party may be elected by acclamation," he told Labour leader Keir Starmer – though that would only happen if one of the final two candidates dropped out. “So it’s possible this will be our last confrontation."
Johnson said it was “true that I leave not at a time of my choosing," but insisted: “I will be leaving soon with my head held high."
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
