The remaining five candidates in the UK Conservative leadership race are preparing to go head-to-head in the first of three live TV debates on Friday.
The development came up after Rishi Sunak cemented his lead in the second round of voting on Thursday with 101 votes ahead of Penny Mordaunt who came second with 83 votes and Liz Truss third with 64 votes.
Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat are still in the race, but Suella Braverman was knocked out.
Those remaining will face the third round of voting by Conservative members of parliament on Monday.
A previous number of 11 contesters has been pulled down just after two days of voting by lawmakers from the ruling Conservative Party, but no individual has yet shown up as the obvious successor to Boris Johnson who resigned following a series of scandals.
The Leadership top five (5) contesters will face off in a live programme on Channel 4 later in the day, with another taking place on Sunday 17 July on ITV.
The third debate will come up on Tuesday 19 July 2022 on Sky News. More candidates would have been eliminated through further rounds of voting by this stage.
The winner of the contest will take on rocketing inflation and low economic growth, as well as the public’s lack of confidence in politics after Johnson’s scandal-ridden time in power.