Britain is preparing to name its fifth prime minister in six years.
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LONDON – The United Kingdom is preparing to install a new prime minister this week – the fifth in six years – after The sudden resignation of Liz Trussonly 44 days on the job.
Truss’ successor will once again be determined by a Conservative Party leadership contest from a shortlist of candidates.
But this time, the process has been accelerated within a week, as the party seeks to salvage its credibility and reassure markets after A disastrous month of economic turmoil under the Truss government.
Over the weekend, two Conservative Party candidates They officially threw their hats into the ring for a stab at the top job. Among them are front-runner Rishi Sunak, who lost to Truss in a driving race in September, and Benny Mordaunt who finished third.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who was ousted from office in a scandal three months ago – said – On Sunday, he withdrew from the race in favor of party unityalthough they previously claimed they had the support needed to get in.
Since then, the two remaining candidates have rallied around their fellow Parliament(s) to collect the minimum votes required to join the final run-off. Here’s how the race is expected to unfold over the coming days – or perhaps hours.
Monday 24, 2 p.m. – Representatives submit their nominations
Candidates have until 2pm London time on Monday to win the support of 100 MPs and thus enter the polls to choose the party leader.
The threshold is particularly high given that the party consists of 357 deputies, each of whom is allowed to vote for only one candidate. Thus, that limits the number of potential contenders to three.
As of Monday morning 6 a.m. local time, Sunak had popular support from 155 MPs and Mordaunt had 25 nominations, According to the BBC.
All MPs will have to submit their nominations, either by email or signature, by the 2pm deadline, after which the results will be revealed.
If only one candidate gets the required 100 votes, he will automatically win the race and become Britain’s next prime minister.
Monday 24th, 6pm – First Vote for Members of Parliament
If two or more candidates reach 100 nominations, an indicative ballot will be held on Monday afternoon.
The first ballot of Members of Parliament will take place between 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM, with results to be announced at 6:00 PM.
Britain’s Conservative Party is pursuing a fast-track version of the leadership race it ran earlier this year.
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If there are only two candidates at this point, it is believed that the candidate with the fewest votes will step down to avoid online polling among party members. But this is not guaranteed.
If there are three candidates, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated and a second ballot will be taken.
Monday 24, 9 p.m. – Second ballot for Members of Parliament
If necessary, a second indicative ballot of Members of Parliament will be held between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm, with the result to be announced at 9 pm.
At this point, the candidate with the fewest votes may step down. If not, the process will advance to a vote among the party members.
Friday 28, 11 a.m. – Party members voting closes
If the process extends beyond Monday, Conservative Party members – who number about 200,000 people representing 0.3% of the British population – will have until 11am to vote for their preferred candidate in an online ballot.
The process will be a fast-track version of the usual six-week process Truss election on September 5th.
The winner will be announced later on Friday. Britain’s King Charles would then ask them to form a government, making them the next prime minister in the process.
Monday 31 – Britain’s fiscal budget?
The new prime minister will have just days to settle into office and announce his new government before the Treasury’s fiscal budget is announced on Monday, October 31.
British and international investors are set to watch the statement closely as new Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt attempts to address the devastation caused by the Truss government and his predecessor Kwasi Quarting.
However, questions remain about whether the budget will go ahead as planned, and indeed, whether the next prime minister will retain Hunt in the position.
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