Boris Johnson Leads in First<br />Round of Voting for Tory Leadership The first round of voting by Conservative Members<br />of Parliament has occurred in the United Kingdom<br />and left Boris Johnson with a comfortable lead. Johnson, who launched his campaign on June 12,<br />received 114 votes during the secret ballot of<br />313 Conservative Members of Parliament. His nearest rivals were Jeremy Hunt, who received<br />43 votes, and Michael Gove, who received 37. Candidates Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey and<br />Mark Harper have been automatically eliminated<br />from the race for receiving less than 17 votes. Following the results of the vote, Johnson<br />took to Twitter to thank his supporters. Boris Johnson, via Twitter The second round of voting is scheduled to be<br />held on June 18, at which point candidates with<br />less than 33 votes will be automatically eliminated. From there, voting will continue until only<br />two candidates remain and face a ballot of<br />160,000 Conservative party members. The successor of outgoing leader Theresa May<br />is expected to be announced as early as July 22.
