Rishi Sunak tops new UK PM vote as only 4 remain in race
London, Jul 19: Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended his lead in the race to replace Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister, as he added 14 more votes to his tally in the latest round of voting by Tory members of Parliament.
Sunak, 42, has consistently topped the shortlist since voting began last week and on Monday he bagged 115 votes in the third round, which leaves only four candidates in the race.
Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt is holding on to second place with 82 votes followed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss with 71 votes and former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch at 58 votes. Tom Tugendhat, Tory backbencher and House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, dropped his tally from the previous 32 to 31 votes and was knocked out of the contest with the least votes.
The fourth round of voting will take place on Tuesday, at the end of which another candidate with the least votes will be eliminated to edge towards a final shortlist of just two candidates by Thursday.
The battle remains poised for the all-important second spot, with all eyes on the candidate who will go head to head with Sunak in the final leg of the race as the former finance minister's lead seems to be crystalising.
While Sunak picked up 14 more votes from the previous round of 101, Mordaunt dropped one from 83 in the second voting round last week. Truss has improved her tally from 64 and Badenoch is up from 49 in the last round.
The magic number is seen as 120, with the candidate receiving the backing of at least 120 of his or her Conservative Party colleagues guaranteed a spot in the final shortlist of two candidates to compete for the Tory membership votes.
The last few rounds of voting are being held this week as a third live television debate, scheduled to be hosted by Sky News' on Tuesday evening, was cancelled after the channel said both Sunak and Truss had declined to take part.
It is believed the decision is influenced by the clashes between the two candidates over disagreements on tax and economic measures as former Cabinet colleagues in the Johnson led government.
The tension played out live on air as Truss clashed with Sunak repeatedly during an ITV' debate on Sunday, sparking concerns of damaging Tory infighting. A snap poll after the debate put Sunak in the lead but Truss was trailing in last place.
According to the BBC, the foreign minister wants to focus on hustings between Tory MPs, who hold the current voting power, and Sunak's camp has indicated that he would be open to more debates if he qualifies for the final two.
The cancellation of Tuesday's debate comes amid concerns in the Tory party about the harsh tone of the campaign.
After the next few rounds of voting on Tuesday and Wednesday to further whittle down the shortlist further, the final two candidates in the fray will be known by Thursday.
The duo will then hold hustings in different parts of the UK to try and win over the Conservative Party's membership of around 160,000 eligible voters to cast postal ballots in their favour. The winner of that ballot will go on to be elected the new Tory leader and take over from caretaker Boris Johnson as the new British Prime Minister by September 5.
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No Gas, No Food, World Hungry
Imagine waking up one morning and finding that the price of wheat flour, rice, and milk has doubled overnight. Your grocery bag costs twice as much. Farmers in your village cannot afford fertiliser. The government is scrambling. This is not a nightmare. This is exactly what the Iran war could trigger — and it starts with something most of us never think about: natural gas.
How Does Gas Connect to Your Food?
There is a process called the Haber-Bosch process — a scientific method that mixes nitrogen from air with hydrogen from natural gas to create ammonia. Ammonia is then turned into urea, which is the fertiliser that farmers spray on wheat, rice, and maize fields. Simply put — no natural gas, no fertiliser. No fertiliser, no food.
Around 80% of the cost of making fertiliser comes from natural gas. So when gas supply gets disrupted even for a few weeks, fertiliser factories slow down or completely shut. Farmers get less fertiliser. Crops grow weaker. Harvests fall. And your plate gets emptier.
The Strait of Hormuz — A Small Passage, Giant Problem
There is a narrow sea passage called the Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Nearly 20% of the world's LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) and 30% of global fertiliser exports pass through this tiny corridor every single day.
Major countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE export fertilisers — urea and ammonia — through this route to nations across Asia, Africa, and Europe. Now, with Iran's military threatening this passage, ships are scared to pass. Fertiliser is stuck inside the Persian Gulf. The world outside is waiting — and waiting costs lives.
Worst Timing in Farming History
This war has arrived at the worst possible moment for global agriculture. Right now, farmers across the Northern Hemisphere — in USA, Canada, Europe, China, India, Russia — are preparing for the spring planting season. This is the peak time when demand for nitrogen fertiliser is at its absolute highest.
Unlike oil, which many countries store in emergency reserves, no country in the world has a strategic fertiliser reserve. If shipments are delayed even by four to six weeks, farmers will use less fertiliser and the autumn harvest will permanently fall. You cannot redo a planting season. Once that window closes, it is gone.
Your Chicken, Milk and Eggs Are Also at Risk
Many people think a food crisis only affects vegetarians. That is wrong. When fertiliser shortages reduce grain production, the price of animal feed — corn and soybean — shoots up. Livestock farmers operate on very thin profits. When feed prices rise sharply, the cost of chicken, pork, beef, milk, and eggs rises with it. A fertiliser shortage can become a full dairy and meat crisis within just a few months.
India's Mungaru Season Is in Serious Danger
For India, this situation is deeply personal — and for Karnataka and South India, it hits even closer to home. India sources nearly 60% of its total LNG imports from Middle East countries — with Qatar alone supplying over 42% and UAE adding another 11%. This makes India the most Middle East-dependent LNG buyer in the entire world.
If India's fertiliser plants cannot get affordable natural gas, domestic urea production will fall sharply — exactly before the Mungaru planting season. Mungaru is what Karnataka and South Indian farmers lovingly call the Kharif (Mungaru) season — the monsoon-driven planting window arriving around June, when farmers sow rice, ragi, sugarcane, and maize riding the southwest rains. This single season produces over half of India's total food grain. Miss this window, and there is no second chance until next year.
The government will be forced to spend thousands of crores extra on fertiliser subsidies. Every family — from a rice farmer in Mandya to a vegetable buyer in Bengaluru — will feel this burden.
Food in Cold Storage Is Also at Risk
Even food that is grown successfully may not reach your kitchen. Our food system runs on a massive cold chain — refrigerated trucks, frozen warehouses, temperature-controlled ships. As LNG prices surge, running these refrigeration systems becomes extremely expensive. More food spoils before reaching the market. Less supply means higher prices.
Countries Will Hoard, the Poor Will Starve
When prices rise and harvests fall, countries panic and stop food exports to protect themselves — exactly as happened during the 2022 Ukraine war. Wheat, rice, and sugar exports get banned overnight. Nations that depend on food imports — especially in Africa and South Asia — face severe shortages, hunger, and social unrest.
One war. One strait. One gas shortage. And the entire world goes hungry.
(Girish Linganna is an award-winning science communicator and a Defence, Aerospace & Geopolitical Analyst. He is the Managing Director of ADD Engineering Components India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany.)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or position of the publication, its editors, or its management. The publication is not responsible for the accuracy of any information, statements, or opinions presented in this piece.
