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