Last to launch on Sunday evening, the head of diplomacy Liz Truss, 46 years old.
Ten Conservative MPs are now launched in the UK on Sunday to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in a campaign where many candidates are keen to mark their difference from former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak on tax issues.
Last to launch on Sunday evening, the head of diplomacy Liz Truss, 46 years old.I will fight in this election as a Conservative and govern as a Conservative“, she declared in the columns of the Daily Telegraph. She joins nine other candidates in the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party and therefore in Downing Street, the party with the majority in the House of Commons.
On Sunday morning, Secretary of State for International Trade Penny Mordaunt, 49, announced her candidacy. This former Navy reservist, who was the first woman to hold the post of Minister of Defense in 2019, insisted on the need for public debate “revolves a little less around the leaderto focus on thevessel“. A declared desire to extract himself from the endless succession of scandals which have marred Boris Johnson’s mandate, until he left him no choice but to resign on Thursday, after an avalanche of resignations in his government.
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Revelations and low blows
Very open, the competition which will open for the head of the conservative party – and therefore for Downing Street, the Tories being the majority in the House of Commons – announces a particularly lively summer, with its share of revelations and low blows.
On Saturday evening, former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid in turn announced their candidacies in the columns of the conservative newspaper Sunday Telegraph. Both have insisted on their tax reduction projects, distancing themselves from the line of Rishi Sunak who wants to wait for the consolidation of public finances before considering embarking on such a path, in a United Kingdom Kingdom plagued by inflation not seen in 40 years.
“Without tax cuts we will not have growth“, declared on the BBC Sunday Sajid Javid, who by announcing his resignation Tuesday from the government launched the bleeding – around sixty departures in all – which proved fatal to Boris Johnson. Sajid Javid, 52, was followed nine minutes later by Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, but assured that the two men had not consulted.
A favorite renounces
Very popular for the multiple economic support measures deployed at the height of the pandemic, Rishi Sunak was for a time weakened by the revelation of the recourse of his wealthy wife to an advantageous tax system. First heavyweight to have launched, it seems to have succeeded in bouncing back and enjoys many support from deputies.
But he risks suffering the wrath of Camp Johnson who suspects him of treason. Rishi Sunak apparently did not notify the Prime Minister before leaving the government.
Another serious candidate, Nadhim Zahawi, who as Secretary of State had piloted the British anti-Covid vaccination program, before moving last week from the Ministry of Education to that of Finance, sees his start to the campaign weighed down by the revelation in the press of a tax investigation targeting him. He assured that all his financial interests have been duly declared.
The other competitors, whose chances of success appear to be much less, are Transport Minister Grant Shapps, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat, as well as the attorney general – responsible for advising the government on a legal basis – Suella Braverman, and former Secretary of State for Equality Kemi Badenoch.
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In total, the authorities of the party anticipate about fifteen candidacies, an influx which augurs an increase in the thresholds in terms of sponsorships or number of votes in the first part of the process. But the treasurer of the 1922 Committee, in charge of the internal organization of the party, said to himself “confidenton Sunday on LBC radio that the two finalists are known by July 20.
Despite this tight schedule, the objective mentioned is to ensure that the final vote, open only to members of the Conservative Party, makes it possible to designate the winner by the beginning of September.
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