THE TORY leadership race is well underway, with four candidates - at the time of writing - remaining in the race to be the next Prime Minister.

Those candidates are Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, and Kemi Badenoch.

UPDATE: Kemi Badenoch has since been knocked out of the contest.

Other well-known candidates such as Jeremy Hunt were knocked out of the race in previous stages, with Tom Tugendhat being the latest casualty - being knocked out on Monday evening.

Westminster seems quite removed from Warrington, but have any of the candidates actually visited Warrington since being in the public eye?

Liz Truss

As Minister of State for Education and Childcare, Liz Truss visited Warrington in 2014.

She was accompanied by then-Warrington South MP David Mowat, and they visited Evelyn Street Primary School and King's Leadership Academy during the trip to Warrington.

At the time, Ms Truss said: "It was great to see the high quality, flexible provision offered to parents in Warrington by Evelyn Street Primary.

"I hope nurseries across the country to take a look at the work done in the North West to see how they can expand and improve the provision they provide."

Penny Mordaunt

Ms Mordaunt visited the National Crime Agency in Warrington back in 2019, when she was Secretary of State for International Development.

At the time, Ms Mordaunt visited to talk to various experts about how to prevent certain crimes, including sexual exploitation of children around the world.

Kemi Badenoch - *NOW ELIMINATED FROM CONTEST*

The relatively-unknown candidate has not visited Warrington in person but has had public discussions with Warrington South MP Andy Carter.

Most recently, Mrs Badenoch spoke to the Warrington South MP in May this year, and they discussed Warrington Borough Council's investment in the now-bankrupt energy supplier, Together Energy.

Warrington Guardian: Andy Carter MP met with Kemi Badenoch in May to discuss the council's investment in Together Energy (Credit: Andy Carter MP)Andy Carter MP met with Kemi Badenoch in May to discuss the council's investment in Together Energy (Credit: Andy Carter MP)

Rishi Sunak

The ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer is the current frontrunner of the Conservative leadership election, consistently receiving the largest backing of Tory MPs in each round of the race.

However, Mr Sunak has never visited Warrington in his time as an MP, which began in 2015.

On one of Mr Sunak's latest trips to the North West, he found himself in the middle of a media gaffe, confusing Bury with Burnley.

One of these four candidates will be elected by Conservative Party members as the new Prime Minister by September 5.