Britain's next PM: Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak front runners

London: After Liz Truss's exit from the Prime Minister's chair in Britain, former PM Boris Johnson and his finance minister Rishi Sunak are the front runners for the post to replace her On Friday. Candidates are out canvassing support to become the leader of the Conservative Party in a fast-tracked contest, Reuters reported.

Truss quit office on Thursday after six weeks on the PM's chair. Now, those who run for it are trying to find 100 votes from Conservative legislators to win the contest.

There are opinion polls that suggest that Conservatives will be swept out clean in the next national election, and the current race will choose the fifth PM for the country in six years.

The next PM, however, will be announced on Monday or Friday the next week.

Boris Johnson's comeback would be an extraordinary turn of events since he was ousted by the legislator nearly three months ago from the post, and he is running along with Sunak.

Conservative legislator Paul Bristow said on Radio that Boris had got the proven track record to turn things around, and he would do the same again. "And I'm sure my colleagues hear that message loud and clear," Reuters quoted Bristow.

He is positive that Boris will win the next general election too.

Reuters says that Boris, who compared himself to a Roman dictator before descending from the PM's chair but was brought to power twice to deal with crises, will face difficulty in gathering the required votes. His three-year tenure as the premiere was marred with scandals and allegations of misconduct. One of his former advisers believes that he will not make it to the chair.

While Sunak, who was the runner-up when Truss won the seat, is a favourite with bookmakers, Penny Mordaunt, a former defence minister popular with party members, is the third in the running.

However, none had formally declared their candidacy, Reuters reported.