Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt have been selected as the two candidates to fight the Conservative leadership election.

The two men will face the 160,000 Conservative members over the next few weeks, with a new leader set to be announced in just over five weeks.

In the final round of voting by Conservative MPs, Boris Johnson again topped the poll with 160, with Hunt far behind with 77. Michael Gove was narrowly missed out on a place in the final contest, with 75. Gove had placed second in the last round of voting.

In an earlier round of voting today, Johnson received the support of over 50 percent of the parliamentary party, with the backing of 157 MPs.

Johnson, the former Conservative Mayor of London and former Foreign Secretary, is the favourite to win the contest and become the next Prime Minister.

He has pledged to leave the European Union with or without a deal on October 31st, refusing to rule out the possibility of suspending Parliament to do so.

Two televised debates with the two candidates, with the BBC and with Sky News, are set to take place early next month. Johnson and Hunt will also take part in a series of party hustings during the election.

It has been speculated that a number of Conservative MPs may be preparing to resign from the party should Johnson take over as leader in July.

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