Lhe list of potential successors to Boris Johnson is growing progressively, despite the withdrawal of the British Minister of Defense Ben Wallace, yet given among the favorites. Three new Conservative MPs applied on Saturday: ex-Health Minister Savid Javid, new Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi and former Foreign Affairs and Health Minister Jeremy Hunt. Eight people now claim to succeed Boris Johnson even if Rishi Sunak seems to be the favorite.
Two days after the announcement of the resignation of Boris Johnson, 58, overwhelmed by an overflow of scandals, his potential successors are gradually revealing their intentions in the competition which will open to replace him at the head of the Conservative Party, therefore in Downing Street, the Tories being the majority in the House of Commons.
Ben Wallace remains in government
Despite many supporters, “I made the decision not to enter the race”, wrote Ben Wallace on Twitter, explaining that he wanted to focus on his current task and “ensure the security of the country”.
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On Friday, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, 42, was the first major suitor to launch his candidacy, in a particularly polished video, to the point of fueling suspicions of a long-prepared candidacy and treason. In this clip, which made 7 million views on Saturday, Rishi Sunak promises to “restore confidence”, “rebuild the economy and reunify the country”.
Long a favorite to enter Downing Street if Boris Johnson fell, Rishi Sunak found himself significantly weakened a few months ago after the revelation of the advantageous tax status enjoyed by his wealthy wife, which allowed him to avoid pay tax on overseas income to the UK tax authorities. He had also suffered from a response deemed insufficient by public opinion in the face of the cost of living crisis, in a United Kingdom plagued by inflation at the highest level for forty years (more than 9%).
The announcement of his candidacy, to which several MPs immediately rallied, has, it seems, created a rebound: a poll on Friday for Channel 4 among 493 party members gives him the preferred candidate of the Conservatives (25%) , ahead of Foreign Minister Liz Truss (21%).
“Platitudes and empty rhetoric”
The state of the party promises a very open competition, in which the Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Penny Mordaunt and the former Minister of Health Sajid Javid appear as serious competitors. But none of them have declared themselves yet. Rishi Sunak had been one of the first to leave the government on Tuesday evening, apparently without even telling Boris Johnson, along with Sajid Javid. These two almost simultaneous resignations had triggered a politically fatal hemorrhage for the hero of Brexit.
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Several other candidates with much lower chances of success have thrown themselves into the race for the succession. Former Secretary of State for Equality Kemi Badenoch called for change and stressed that opinion was “weary with platitudes and empty rhetoric”. She thus joins Suella Braverman – attorney general, responsible for advising the government on a legal basis – and Tom Tugendhat – chairman of the parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs.
Raising of thresholds
Up to fifteen applications are anticipated in total. Faced with the prospect of such an influx, an increase in the number of sponsorships and votes required in the first part of the nomination process is envisaged, explained on Times Tadio Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 Committee, in charge of the internal organization of the party. And this, so that the two finalists can be known within two weeks, before the summer parliamentary truce which begins on the 22nd.
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The vote of the members of the Conservative Party – 160,000 voters in the last internal election of 2019 – to decide between them would take place by the start of the school year, according to the scenario which seems to be emerging in the British press. The executive office of the 1922 Committee must be renewed on Monday. It is he who will set the rules and the timetable.
Announcing his resignation on Thursday, Boris Johnson said he intended to stay in Downing Street until a new party leader was elected, with many voices calling for his immediate departure and the establishment of a an interim. Whoever it is, the next tenant of Downing Street will have to face a host of difficult subjects, between the crisis of purchasing power, Ukraine or even the thorny file of Northern Ireland in the post-Brexit .