Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom and Mark Harper eliminated from Tory Leadership race and UK breathes sigh of relief

Today, Britain came one step closer to finding out who its shiny new prime minister will be - courtesy of the Conservative Party.

All 313 of the party's MPs voted in their first secret ballot, in which any Tory leadership hopeful who received less than five percent of the vote (17 ballot papers) was knocked out.

The country heaved a collective sigh of relief as Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom were booted out of the race, and most likely a confused shrug for Mark Harper.

Boris Johnson swept the board with 114 votes, while Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove battled it out for second place.

Candidates will have to gain 10 percent in votes next week as the candidates are whittled down to two.

Since the departure of Ms Leadsom and Ms McVey left the field full of males, these two chosen men will then be at the mercy of the entire Conservative Party membership (124,000 people) before a leader is announced on 22 July.

Yep. This farce lasts for almost another six weeks.

Here were the results of the ballot:

Boris Johnson - 114

Jeremy Hunt - 43

Michael Gove - 37

Dominic Raab - 27

Sajid Javid - 23

Matt Hancock - 20

Rory Stewart - 19

Andrea Leadsom - 11

Mark Harper - 10

Esther McVey - 9

While outgoing prime minister Theresa May told reporters it was "none of their business" who her preferred candidate was, many others were quick to share their thoughts.

While the most memorable part of Esther McVey's short-lived campaign was probably her roasting by former colleague Lorraine Kelly, that nasty bit where she said children shouldn't be taught about the existence of LGBT+ people at primary school will likely stick in the minds of many.

People were similarly delighted by Andrea Leadsom's exit.

Anyone left bemused as to who Mark Harper is might remember the guy who had his cleaner deported.

People were less excited about the news of Boris Johnson, the man who once wrote an article in The Spectator saying black people have lower IQs than white people, solidifying his position as frontrunner.

However some managed to find hope in the darkest of places

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