UK: Tory contender born to Nigerian parents loses bid as PMs' race narrows to 3

Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch was voted out on Tuesday. She was one the remaining hopefuls in the forthcoming September 5 election to replace Prime minister Boris Johnson.

Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak garnered 118 votes, followed by former defence minister Penny Mordaunt on 92 and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on 86.

Lawmaker Kemi Badenoch was eliminated from the contest after receiving the fewest votes (59) from Conservative lawmakers in their fourth round of voting.

Kemi had announced her intention to run in an Op-Ed published in the Times of London on Saturday, July 9, 2022.

Badenoch, whose parents are from Nigeria has seen her star rise after her public showing in a television debate Friday, and led a poll of party members by the ConservativeHome website on Sunday.

Conceiding her defeat, Tuesday, she thanked her supporters: "This campaign began less than two weeks ago. What we’ve achieved demonstrates the level of support for our vision of change for our country and for the Conservative Party."

She would have been the first Black prime minister and, at 42, the youngest in more than 250 years.

Once the race narrows to two contenders, the finalists will go to a runoff vote by all 180,000 members of the Conservative Party, with a winner expected to be announced Sept. 5.