The list of candidates for Boris Johnson’s ‘best job in the world’ as UK prime minister is getting shorter and shorter, with just five names led by former UK finance secretary Rishi Sunak and former defense secretary Penny Mordaunt.
After this new vote, Sunak (101 votes), Mordaunt (83), Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (64), Equality Secretary Kemi Badenok (49) and MP Tom Tugendhat (32) advance to the second round. The current Attorney General of the British government, Swella Braverman, 42, eventually dropped out of the race.
The former treasury secretary is seen as the front-runner to succeed Johnson, who resigned as Conservative leader last week after a mass crush of government officials over months of ethical rows. He will remain in office until a replacement is chosen.
Considered a rising star in government and the party, Sunak was one of the first ministers to step down, a decision condemned by Johnson’s allies, who blame the former treasury secretary for orchestrating the prime minister’s downfall.
What’s more, Sunak, the only British politician ever to make the Sunday Times list of richest families, has come under fire for the tax hike he introduced as Chancellor. Despite the criticism, a spokesman for the former finance minister said he intends to “continue to make strong statements on the economic agenda,” the BBC quoted the BBC as saying that other candidates have backtracked on their promises.
But Sunak’s victory is not guaranteed, quite the contrary. Nominee Penny Mordaunt stands out in the race thanks to a string of strong endorsements leading bookmaker Ladbrokes.
The former secretary of defense has a big advantage over candidates like Liz Truss or Sunak, writes The Guardian. She was not part of Johnson’s inner circle, who removed her after she backed Jeremy Hunt (who supports Sunak as prime minister’s successor) in 2019 as head of the Conservative Party. This departure from Johnson could prove decisive in his victory.
Mordaunt’s rise in the polls was somewhat unexpected as Truss, once considered the favorite to replace Johnson, continued to fall behind the former secretary of defense.
As much fuss continues among the Tories over the choice of their next leader, polls show we could be facing an ideological shift in the UK with Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer ahead of any of Johnson’s possible successors despite seeing a vote this week. distrust. against the rejection of the government.
The Labor Party announced this Wednesday that it will present a vote of no confidence, which it justified as a “last chance” to remove Boris Johnson as prime minister. The main opposition party wants to prevent Johnson from remaining in office until September, when a new leader of the party, chosen entirely by congressmen and conservative activists, will be announced.
– You can’t leave it hanging for weeks and weeks and weeks until September 5th. It would be unbearable for the country,” the Labor leader defended. According to Reuters, the name of the next British Prime Minister will be announced on 5 September. To date, Boris Johnson has not declared support for any of the candidates in the race for his succession.
