FILE PHOTO: Britain's Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride walks outside Downing Street, in London, Britain, November 22, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - Four hopefuls were left in the race to become leader of the Conservatives on Tuesday after centrist former work and pensions minister Mel Stride was knocked out of a race set to shape the future direction of Britain's once dominant party.
The contest, to replace former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, will run until Nov. 2, after Conservative members cast the final ballots for a new leader, charged with turning around the fortunes of a party that suffered the worst result in its history in a July election defeat at the hands of Labour.
Tuesday's second round of voting again handed pole position to Robert Jenrick, a right-winger who quit as immigration minister as he believed the then-government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was not tough enough.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Andrew MacAskill, editing by William James)
