Voting closes in contest to lead UK Conservative Party as it seeks to rebound from defeat

Voting closed Thursday in the months-long contest to lead Britain's Conservative Party after its crushing election defeat, with the result due to be announced on Saturday. Tens of thousands of members of the right-of-center party were eligible to vote in the runoff between lawmakers Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick. In a race that has lasted more than three months, Conservative lawmakers reduced the field from six candidates in a series of votes before putting the final two to the wider party membership.