US House of Representatives fails to elect speaker after eight rounds of voting

Republican Kevin McCarthy has once again failed to gain enough votes to become speaker of the US House of Representatives after a record eight rounds of voting over three days.

He took 201 of the 433 votes cast. The winner has to take 218 votes or more to become speaker.

His Democrat opponent, Hakeem Jeffries, took 212 votes.

Although Republicans control the House, it is a battle between McCarthy and the hard wing of the Republican party that has resulted in the stalemate.

They think McCarthy is not conservative enough for the job, which is the third most important political post in the country.

Even former President Donald Trump has called on the party to support McCarthy and, in his words, “not turn a narrow midterm election victory into a loss”.

McCarthy has struggled to appease the hardliners in his party despite having reportedly made concessions on Wednesday night.