Next round of votes on Tuesday
Boris Johnson, the leading candidate to take over as PM, skipped a televised debate with the 5 other candidates on Sunday. Johnson received 114 of 313 Tory votes last week with the next highest vote tally going to Jeremy Hunt at 43. Michael Gove received 37 votes, Raab 27, Sajid Javid 23, and international development secretary Stuart 19. There were 50 votes who have dropped out.
The final 6 need 33 votes to get through the Tuesday's second round.
It is expected that the BoJo will participate in a televised debate on Tuesday after the results are released.
The group will eventually be whittled down to a final 2 which will then be pitted against each other in a postal vote of about 160,000 conservative members nationwide. Johnson is certainly expected to be the one of the two.
The overall winner is expected to be announced in late July. However, it could be finalized earlier if it is perceived Johnson has an insurmountable lead and all the other candidates, drop out.
Even so, there are some that feel the process should be played out to the finish. PM May was named PM after her contenders all threw in the towel. There are some who now feel in hindsight that by going through the process, leadership flaws of May would have been uncovered.
Meanwhile, UK Health Minister Hancock says he is backing PM candidate Johnson's leadership bid. He says that he has had its his differences with Boris Johnson, but says "he is the one to unite us".
