LONDON (awp/afp) – British Defense Minister Ben Wallace, given among the favorites to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, announced his decision on Saturday not to stand for election to lead the Conservative Party.
“After careful consideration and discussion with my colleagues and my family, I have made the decision not to enter the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party,” Ben Wallace wrote on Twitter, explaining that he wanted to focus on its current task is to “ensure the security of the country”.
Expressing his gratitude to those who had “pledged” him their support, he wished good luck to all the candidates. “I hope we can quickly focus again on the issues for which we were elected,” he added.
Since the announcement Thursday of the resignation of Boris Johnson, swept away by a series of scandals, four candidates have so far declared themselves.
Ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak is among them for the moment the only heavyweight, but he risks being quickly joined by other current or former ministers, such as Liz Truss (Foreign Affairs) or Nadhim Zahawi (Finance ). Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Penny Mordaunt and former Minister of Health Sajid Javid are serious competitors.
sp/lch