Sunak, Mordaunt or Boris Johnson: the candidates who could succeed Liz Truss as UK Prime Minister

London
CNN
–

Britain will have a new prime minister within a week, the outgoing leader Les Truss She said in her resignation letter outside 10 Downing Street on Thursday.

The fast-track operation is in stark contrast to the competition that propelled Truss into the hot seat — which lasted six weeks in the height of summer.

This time around, with conservatives at rock bottom in opinion polls and markets jittery after weeks of drama over Truss’ failed economic policy agenda, the party wants a new leader in his place as quickly as possible and with as little drama as possible. .

Graham Brady, the Conservative official in charge of the process, announced that candidates to replace Truss would need to have at least 100 nominations from party MPs by 2pm local time on Monday.

If one candidate meets this limit, he will automatically become a leader. Otherwise, online polling for party members will close on Friday, October 28.

The winner of the competition will be Fifth Conservative Prime Minister In just over six years – and the third during this parliamentary session. But who might be the next leader? Here are some of the main racers and riders:

Sunak has proven to be a prophet of the government’s demise, with many of the predictions he made during this summer’s leadership about Truss’ economic plan.

The ex-Finance Minister (Finance Minister) has warned that the unfunded tax cuts made by Truss will lead to a run on the British pound, panic in the bond market and anxiety from the International Monetary Fund. Perhaps he would have been surprised at the pace at which he proved to be healthy.

Sunak has experience fighting economic crises, having guided the UK through the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also garnered the most votes from MPs in the last leadership election – comfortably crossing the new threshold with 137 endorsements. Although Truss eventually won the crucial member votes, Sunak lost by a narrow margin – with 43% of the vote.

The confidence he had among Members of Parliament—and the accuracy with which his predictions had earned—might likely make him the next set of hands to steer the ship.

The leader of the House of Commons may have had a rehearsal for being prime minister this week, having been absent from office. Les Truss in the debate.

Mordaunt asserted on Tuesday that “the prime minister is not under a desk” – in a performance that appeared aimed at promoting himself as he did to help the prime minister.

Mordaunt came third in the last leadership election, narrowly losing to be placed in front of members. With 105 MPs votes in the last election, it is also expected to cross the newt threshold. She is expected to perform well among party members, due in part to her military credentials. Mordaunt is a reservist in the Royal Navy and served for a short time as Secretary of State for Defense.

Like Sunak, she is from the more moderate wing of the party. There has even been talk among MPs about the two forming a ‘dream team’ ticket, although this has yet to materialize – and it’s not clear if either would accept being chancellor to take on the top position.

Badenoch came fourth in this summer’s leadership election He received just 59 votes from MPs – but was consistently ranked by pollsters as a favorite of grassroots conservative members.

Badenoch, one of the younger MPs in the race, quickly won the endorsement of long-time Conservative Michael Gove, who praised her as the “outstanding talent” of the party.

Badenoch is to the right of the Conservative Party – and in her previous leadership bid she suggested that government climate targets could be too costly.

With Truss voting members of Parliament now, Badenoch may have an outside opportunity to cross the threshold and make it to the members’ vote.

Many allies made the case Johnson He could be a candidate for unity capable of stabilizing the country, despite the fact that he resigned only a few months ago after a series of combined scandals, which made his position untenable.

When asked by CNN how they could justify Johnson’s position to be prime minister again, one of Johnson’s 2019 Leadership Campaign MPs said: “The Socialists are going to destroy our economy, and if you don’t understand that I really fear for our future.”

Another MP who endorsed Johnson in 2019 said he was the only candidate who could easily win over both Conservative MPs and Conservative Party members.

Johnson’s closest allies said they knew he was actively pressured in the hours after Truss’ resignation letter, which he saw as the party’s best chance for medium-term stability.

In his last speech as Prime Minister outside 10 Downing Street, Johnson made one of his signature references to ancient history. He said he would “go back to his plow” like the Roman statesman Cincinnatus – suggesting a quieter life on the back benches. But that’s not how Cincinnati lived his days. He was called from his plow to return to Rome for a second term – this time as a dictator.

Some suspect that the new 100-vote threshold is an attempt by the Conservative Party to make another Johnson term impossible. He is expected to do very well in party votes – but the high percentage of MPs vote means he is unlikely to reach that stage.

It is a sign of the chaos that pervaded the last days of the Truss government that she elevated Grant Shapps to the position of Home Secretary – though she had not offered him a cabinet role of any kind when she first took office.

Shapps served as Secretary of Transportation under Boris Johnson. He himself came forward to succeed him in the previous presidential election – only to drop out of the race three days later, having failed to secure the 20 MPs required to move to the next round.

The new bottom line is likely to be too high for Schaps – but his criticism of the Truss government from the start may have won him more support from MPs than last time.

Suila Braverman The resignation of the interior minister on Wednesday night may be a prelude to a potential leadership bid. The former attorney general has never been nominated – but with her tough stance on immigration, it may look like she will drag the party further to the right.

Tom Tugendhat She emerged as a surprise favorite among members of the Conservative Party and the wider public, even though she only came in at fifth place in the last leadership election. Having not been a Cabinet member prior to that contest, Tugendhat distanced himself from the moral chaos of Johnson’s government and promised a “clean start” for Britain. After serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tugendhat was appointed Minister of Security by Truss.

Ben Wallace, the defense secretary and another former military man, was expected to succeed Johnson in the latest leadership contest – polls do well among members of the Conservative Party. However, he never ran in that election, and it is not clear if his position will change since then.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May It has also been floated as a potential “unit” candidate to succeed Truss. May tried to bring together the warring wings of the Conservative Party over Brexit, in a move that eventually led to her being replaced by Boris Johnson. As the party has proven unable to resolve its disputes this time around, another attempt at compromise may soon be made.