Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former chancellor Rishi Sunak are the last two candidates standing in the race to become the UK’s next prime minister.
While Sunak secured the most support from his fellow MPs during the initial rounds of voting, a spate of polls suggest he could struggle to beat Truss, who is a darling of the right of the Conservative Party and extremely popular with rank and file members.
A recent YouGov poll has revealed that 62% of Tory members currently plan to vote for the foreign secretary, compared to just 38% who intend to vote for Sunak.
But with a long summer of campaigning ahead, it remains to be seen whether Truss can maintain her advantage until the result is announced on 5 September.
While Tory MPs voted, the country sweltered in record-breaking temperatures that topped 40C, leading to devastating wildfires that destroyed dozens of homes and swathes of land.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that Tuesday had been the busiest day for the capital’s fire brigade since the Second World War, with the firefighting service receiving more than 2,600 calls – seven times the usual number.
As the climate continues to warm, the extreme temperatures we saw earlier this week are likely to become more frequent, leading experts to warn that the UK could become more susceptible to property-destroying wildfires in the coming years.
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Need a reminder of some of the other headlines over the past seven days?
- England’s Lionesses have earned a place in the Euro semi-final after a 2-1 victory against Spain.
- The government’s Online Safety Bill has been shelved until at least the autumn when a new prime minister is in place, but risks being scrapped altogether.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Iran on Tuesday to shore up a new “anti-West” alliance between the two sanction-hit nations.
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and 17 other Democratic lawmakers were arrested outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Wednesday as they attended a protest in support of abortion rights in the aftermath of the seismic overturning of Roe vs Wade.
- The 6 January congressional hearings into the Capitol Hill riot have sparked fresh debate over Donald Trump’s viability as a 2024 presidential candidate should he decide to run again.
