Sterling pounded ahead of new UK prime minister announcement

The pound against the US dollar (GBP/USD) continued to fall on Tuesday morning, ahead of Britain will announce a new prime minister to take over from Theresa May.

Sterling fell by another 0.2%, marking a steady decline in the pound and US dollar currency pairing since Friday, keeping the level hovering around $1.24 mark.

Former London mayor, and most recently foreign secretary, Boris Johnson is currently the frontrunner to take the UK’s top job and prominently campaigned for Brexit. He also, during his time as foreign secretary under Theresa May’s reign, pushed for no-deal Brexit.

Currency foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt is also in the running. While he supports Brexit, Chancellor Philip Hammond said over the weekend that if Hunt won the leadership race, the situation "might be more complicated." He added that Hunt's position regarding a no-deal Brexit was "more nuanced."

Later today either Johnson or Hunt will become the new leader of the Conservative Party and thereby become prime minister and replace May.

The outcome of the ballot 160,000 Conservative party members will be revealed at just before midday local time. They will then official become PM on Wednesday.