The race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and the next British Prime Minister widened further on Monday as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss became another high-profile contestant entering the fray to go head-to-head with British Indian former minister Rishi Sunak.
Truss' junior minister in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Muzaffarabad-born Rehman Chishti, also entered the contest to become the second Pakistani-origin minister alongside UK-born former Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
It takes the total number of candidates to 11, including Indian-origin Attorney General Suella Braverman, Iraqi-origin Nadhim Zahawi, Nigerian-origin Kemi Bedanoch, Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat, former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
Another senior Indian-origin candidate considering a leadership bid is UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is expected to pitch herself as a committed Brexiteer and is reportedly looking to bring other Brexit hardliners, like Braverman and Badenoch, into her camp.