British Conservative party leadership and prime minister contender Boris Johnson leaves his home in south London, Thursday June 20, 2019. The race to become Britain’s next prime minister is down to the final four on Wednesday, as Boris Johnson stretched his lead among Conservative lawmakers and upstart Rory Stewart was eliminated from the contest. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on choosing Britain’s next prime minister (all times local):

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt will compete to become Britain’s next prime minister in a runoff vote by members of the governing Conservative Party.

Johnson, a former U.K. foreign secretary, and Hunt, who holds that office now, are the last candidates standing after a series of elimination votes by Conservative lawmakers. Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Environment Secretary Michael Gove were culled from the race on Thursday.

Johnson got 160 of the votes cast by 313 Tory lawmakers in the final round, and is strong favorite to win the ballot of some 160,000 party members.

Hunt, who got 77 votes, will seek to halt Johnson’s momentum by picking away at Johnson’s plans for Brexit as the two speak to meetings of party members across the country.

The winner is due to be announced in late July, and will replace Theresa May as party leader and prime minister.

The contest to become Britain’s next prime minister is down to its final three candidates, with Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt chasing front-runner Boris Johnson for a spot in a deciding runoff.

Johnson gained 157 of 313 votes cast by Conservative lawmakers Thursday in their fourth round of voting. Gove received 61, leapfrogging Hunt, who has been in second place until now but got 59.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid came fourth with 34 votes and drops out.

A second vote Thursday will select the final two contenders, who will go to a by-mail ballot of all 160,000 Conservative Party members nationwide.

The winner is due to be announced in late July, and will replace Theresa May as party leader and prime minister.

Britain’s governing Conservatives were set to pick two candidates who will square off to become the country’s next prime minister.

Tory lawmakers will vote to eliminate two contenders from a four-strong field that includes ex-foreign minister and London mayor Boris Johnson, current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

Johnson has a commanding lead after three rounds of voting that cut the list from an initial 10 contenders. The three others are battling to join him in a runoff to be decided by 160,000 Conservative Party members nationwide.

All the candidates are vowing to lead Britain out of the European Union, a challenge that defeated outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. She quit as Conservative leader earlier this month after failing to win Parliament’s backing for her Brexit deal.

The winner of the contest, due to be announced the week of July 22, will become Conservative leader and prime minister.

Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit and the Conservative Party leadership race at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit </s> The votes are in and the new Tory leader is being announced at 11.40am today.

Boris Johnson is expected to win the contest after a ballot of around 160,000 Conservative Party members across the UK.

The winner gives a short acceptance speech laying out their ambitions for the role.

They then become Prime Minister tomorrow, after Theresa May goes to Buckingham Palace to hand in her resignation following PMQs .

The announcement is being held at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in Westminster - opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Watch live on the stream above or you can visit our full live blog here. </s> COMBO FILE – In this file four-photo combo image of various recent dates, showing the contenders still placed to become leader of the Conservative Party, Wednesday June 19, 2019, with from left: Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid. Rory Stewart has dropped out of the contest Wednesday. Britain’s Conservative Party will continue to hold elimination votes until the final two contenders will be put to a vote of party members nationwide, with the winner due to replace Prime Minister Theresa May as party leader and prime minister. (AP FILE Photo combo)

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s next prime minister will be a man in his 50s who went to Oxford University — either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt, the two finalists selected Thursday in a race to lead the governing Conservative Party.

Johnson , a flamboyant former foreign secretary and ex-mayor of London, topped a ballot of 313 Conservative lawmakers with 160 votes and is runaway favorite to become the party’s next leader. He has led in all five voting rounds of a contest that began last week with 10 contenders.

Hunt , Britain’s current foreign secretary, came a distant second with 77 votes and will join Johnson in a runoff decided by 160,000 party members across Britain.

Johnson tweeted that he was honored to have gotten more than half the votes cast by party lawmakers. He said “I look forward to getting out across the U.K. and to set out my plan to deliver Brexit, unite our country, and create a brighter future for all of us.”

Hunt said on Twitter that he knew he was the underdog “but in politics surprises happen.”

The winner of the runoff, due to be announced the week of July 22, will become the new Conservative leader and the country’s next prime minister, replacing Theresa May.

Hunt edged out Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who got 75 votes, after Home Secretary Sajid Javid was eliminated earlier Thursday.

The result spares Johnson a showdown with Gove, his former ally-turned-archrival. The two men jointly led the “leave” campaign in Britain’s 2016 EU membership referendum, but Gove scuttled Johnson’s subsequent bid to become prime minister by deciding to run for the job himself, in a race ultimately won by May.

This time around, many in the party doubt that anyone can beat 55-year-old Johnson, a quick-witted, Latin-spouting extrovert admired for his ability to connect with voters, but mistrusted for his erratic performance in high office and his long record of inaccurate, misleading and sometimes offensive comments.

“Boris will say absolutely anything in order to please an audience,” historian Max Hastings told the BBC on Thursday. “Boris would have told the passengers on the Titanic that rescue was imminent.”

Hunt, who has been culture secretary and health secretary, is considered an experienced, competent minister, but unexciting. The 52-year-old politician bills himself as the “serious” candidate, in an implicit contrast to Johnson. He will try to halt Johnson’s momentum by picking away at his rival’s plans for Brexit as the two speak to party members at meetings across the country over the next few weeks.

Both Johnson and Hunt vow they will lead Britain out of the European Union, a challenge that defeated May. She quit as Conservative leader earlier this month after failing to win Parliament’s backing for her Brexit deal.

Brexit, originally scheduled to take place on March 29, has been postponed twice amid political deadlock in London.

Johnson has won backing from the party’s die-hard Brexiteers by insisting the U.K. must leave the bloc on the rescheduled date of Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal to smooth the way.

He also is supported — somewhat paradoxically — by some Tory moderates who claim Johnson has the skills to unite the party and win back voters from rival parties on both the left and the right.

“The essence of Boris Johnson is a unifier,” he said.

Hunt backed the losing “remain” side in the referendum, a disadvantage in a party whose rank-and-file members are overwhelmingly pro-Brexit. Hunt now insists he is determined to go through with Brexit and says his past in business, running an educational publishing firm, gives him the experience to negotiate with the EU.

Hunt says he would seek another postponement of Brexit if that is needed to secure a deal, but only for a short time.

Critics say neither candidate has a realistic plan. The EU is adamant that it won’t reopen the Brexit agreement it struck with May’s government, which has been rejected three times by Britain’s Parliament.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Thursday that “the withdrawal agreement is not going to be reopened.”

He also said there was “enormous hostility to any further extension” of the Brexit deadline among the other 27 EU leaders.

Many economists and businesses warn that leaving the EU without a deal on divorce terms and future relations would cause economic turmoil as tariffs and other disruptions are imposed on trade between Britain and the EU.

U.K. Treasury chief Philip Hammond warned that a no-deal Brexit would put Britain’s prosperity at risk and leave the economy “permanently smaller.”

“The question to the candidates is not ‘What is your plan?’ but ‘What is your Plan B?'” Hammond said in extracts from a speech he was giving Thursday night.

Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit and the Conservative Party leadership race at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit </s> The Latest: UK prime minister pool cut to 4, Johnson at top

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Conservative Party voting to pick Britain's next prime minister (all times local):

The contest to become Britain's next prime minister is down to four candidates, with Boris Johnson building on his commanding lead in a Conservative Party vote.

Johnson gained 143 of 313 votes cast by Conservative lawmakers Wednesday in their third round of voting.

He's being chased by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, a longshot candidate who energized the race, received the fewest votes and drops out.

Two more votes are scheduled for Thursday to whittle the field down to two. The final two contenders will go to a by-mail ballot of all 160,000 Conservative Party members nationwide.

The winner is due to be announced in late July, and will replace Theresa May as party leader and prime minister.

Britain's Conservative Party is set to kick one more candidate out of the contest to become the country's next prime minister, as rivals scramble to catch front-runner Boris Johnson.

The five-strong field will be narrowed in elimination votes by Tory lawmakers Wednesday and Thursday, with the two top candidates going to a runoff of party members across the country.

One of the remaining candidates, International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, says he is talking to Environment Secretary Michael Gove about combining forces. He says the question is "who is best able to politely and respectfully defeat Boris Johnson."

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Home Secretary Sajid Javid are also in the race.

The winner, due to be announced in late July, will replace Theresa May as Conservative leader and prime minister.

Follow AP's full coverage of Brexit and the Conservative Party leadership race at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit </s> LONDON, June 20 — Boris Johnson, the front-runner in the race to become Britain’s next prime minister, increased his support among lawmakers in the fourth round of the Conservative Party leadership contest today.

Johnson got 157 out of 313 votes. Environment minister Michael Gove came second with 61 votes, overtaking Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who got 59 votes.

Interior minister Sajid Javid was fourth with 34 votes and was eliminated from the contest. Two votes were declared invalid.

A fifth ballot later today will determine the final two candidates. Then Conservative Party grassroots members will decide who will become leader, and Britain’s next prime minister, by the end of July. — Reuters </s> Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (Photo: Twitter/ @narendramodi)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

"Congratulations @BorisJohnson on assuming office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I wish you success and look forward to working with you to further strengthen India - UK partnership in all spheres. @10DowningStreet," Modi twote on Twitter.

Beginning a new chapter in the British politics, Boris Johnson on Wednesday officially became the Prime Minister of the country, following the official step down of his predecessor Theresa May.

Johnson visited Buckingham Palace where he met Queen Elizabeth II for over half an hour. The Royal family tweeted an image of Johnson with the queen and confirmed that he has been asked to form the government, reported CNN.

Johnson on Tuesday had won the race to become the head of the conservative party after securing 92,153 votes to his rival Jeremy Hunt's 46,656 votes. 1,60,000 grassroots Conservative party members across the UK had voted to choose the next occupant of 10 Downing Street after May's departure. </s> British Conservative Party lawmaker Boris Johnson leaves his home in London, Thursday, June 13, 2019. Britain’s Conservative Party is holding an election to replace Prime Minister Theresa May, who resigned last week after failing to lead Britain out of the European Union on schedule. Former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson is currently the bookies favorite to replace May. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

LONDON (AP) — One of seven contenders to replace British Prime Minister Theresa May quit the Conservative Party leadership race on Friday, as front-runner Boris Johnson was accused by rivals of trying to dodge media scrutiny.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that after the first round of voting it was clear he did not have the backing to win. He came fifth in a vote Thursday among 313 Conservative lawmakers, with 20 votes.

Johnson, a former foreign secretary, won Thursday’s ballot with 114 votes, more than the next three candidates combined.

Hancock did not say whom he planned to support.

The 40-year-old had pitched himself as the face of a younger, modernizing generation in the Conservative Party, promising to deliver an energizing blend of social liberalism and economic dynamism. But his message failed to gain much traction in a party consumed with Britain’s stalled departure from the European Union.

Hancock said he had run as the “candidate of the future” but found that “the party, understandably, is focused very much on the here and now and how we get through Brexit.”

The Conservative Party is holding a contest to replace Prime Minister Theresa May, who quit as party leader last week after failing to secure Parliament’s backing for her divorce deal with the EU.

Tory legislators will hold more elimination votes next week, with the final two contenders put to a vote of 160,000 Conservative Party members nationwide. The winner, due to be announced in late July, will become Conservative leader and prime minister.

Johnson’s commanding lead makes him almost certain to be in the final two. The flamboyant former London mayor is admired by many Conservatives for his ability to energize voters, but is also widely mistrusted for his record of misleading statements, verbal blunders and haphazard performance in high office.

Johnson has vowed that as prime minister he would “get Brexit done,” either by renegotiating May’s rejected Brexit deal or by leaving the EU on Oct. 31 without an agreement.

But Johnson has not answered many tough questions about his plans. The EU says it will not reopen the divorce agreement, and many economists say a no-deal exit would cause economic turmoil.

All the remaining candidates, apart from Johnson, say they will take part in TV debates on Sunday and Tuesday.

Johnson signaled he was unlikely to take part in Sunday’s Channel 4 program, saying debates with “loads of candidates” could be “slightly cacophonous.”

But he said he would take part in a BBC debate on Tuesday evening, once the field of candidates has been reduced by a second round of voting.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is in second place, said a prospective national leader should not be “hiding away from the media.”

In addition to Johnson and Hunt, those still in the race are Environment Secretary Michael Gove, ex-Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, Home Secretary Sajid Javid and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart.

Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit and the Conservative Party leadership race at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit </s> Boris Johnson promised to deliver Brexit on Oct. 31 after he was chosen by UK Conservative Party members to succeed Theresa May as Britain’s prime minister on Tuesday.

“We are going to energise the country. We are going to get Brexit done on October 31 and we are going to take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring,” Johnson said in a speech after defeating rival candidate Jeremy Hunt. </s> British Conservative party leadership contender Boris Johnson gets in a car as he leaves his home in south London, Tuesday, June 18, 2019. Contenders for leadership in Britain’s ruling Conservative Party to become the next Prime Minister, jostled for attention Monday as the race narrowed into a contest to seize the mantle of challenger to front-runner Boris Johnson. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on the voting to elect Britain’s next prime minister (all times local):

The five men competing to be Britain’s next prime minister are taking part in a televised debate where they traded barbs about who will get Britain out of the European Union fastest.

Front-runner Boris Johnson said during the Tuesday night debate that if Brexit doesn’t happen on the scheduled date of Oct. 31 there would be a “catastrophic loss of confidence in politics.”

Both Johnson and fellow contender Sajid Javid said they would opt to leave the EU without an agreement if Parliament hadn’t ratified a divorce deal by then.

The debate came just hours after Conservative Party lawmakers voted for a second time to winnow to field of candidates competing to replace Theresa May as party leader and British prime minister.

Michael Gove said a no-deal Brexit would cause “economic turbulence” but he wouldn’t rule it out. Jeremy Hunt said “it should only be a very, very last resort.”

Gove and Hunt both said they’d delay Brexit for a short time if needed to secure a deal.

The fifth contender, Rory Stewart, said “there would never be no-deal” if he was prime minister because it would be too damaging to the economy.

Boris Johnson has increased his lead in the race to become Britain’s next prime minister, as one of his rivals was eliminated from the contest.

Five contenders in all were still in the running after a second-round ballot of Conservative lawmakers on Tuesday.

Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab failed to reach the threshold of 33 votes needed to go on to the next round.

Tory lawmakers will vote again Wednesday and, if needed, on Thursday. The final two contenders will go to a by-mail ballot of all 160,000 Conservative Party members nationwide.

The winner will replace Theresa May as party leader and prime minister.

Conservative lawmakers in Britain are voting on who should become the party’s next leader and Britain’s next prime minister.

Six contenders, including front-runner Boris Johnson, remained before the vote on Tuesday. At least one will be eliminated in that vote.

All those aiming to replace Prime Minister Theresa May vow they will succeed where May failed and lead Britain out of the European Union, though they differ about how they plan to break the country’s Brexit deadlock.

Johnson, a former foreign secretary, gained backing from 114 of the 313 Tory legislators in the first round of voting.

In Tuesday’s vote, the lowest-placed contender will drop out, along with any who fail to get at least 33 votes.Further rounds of voting are set for Wednesday and Thursday if needed. The final two contenders will go to a postal ballot of about 160,000 Conservative Party members nationwide.

The winner, due to be announced in late July, will become party leader and prime minister.

Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit and the Conservative Party leadership race at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit
Boris Johnson is elected as Leader of the UK Conservative Party, and as a result is expected to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 24 July 2019.