Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Sunday that he would not run for the Conservative Party leadership, which would put him back as Prime Minister after the departure of his successor Liz Truss.
According to Johnson, despite the necessary support for the race, he concluded that “it just wasn’t the right thing to do” as “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a unified party in Parliament”.
That clears the way for Rishi Sunak, the favorite to succeed Liz Truss as Prime Minister, barring unforeseen circumstances. Sunak was finance minister during Boris Johnson’s tenure at the helm of the country. (read below).
- Why Britain will change Prime Minister without an election
Following the resignation of Liz Truss on Thursday (20th), a race for support to run for the post of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began. Under the rules of the next internal election, you must be nominated as a candidate by at least 100 Conservative MPs, who hold a majority in the British Chamber.
According to the BBC, the former prime minister said he had the support of 102 Conservative MPs to enter the race. The network also learned on Sunday that Rishi Sunak already had the support of 146 party members even before Johnson’s departure was announced.
Internal voting procedure
Britain’s Liz Truss resigned as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Thursday (20th) and has reopened elections for the post. The last election was scheduled just over a month ago, on September 5th.
Who should replace her will be voted on internally by the leadership among Conservative Party members. As they form the majority of the British Parliament, they are the ones who decide who becomes Prime Minister.
Unlike the process to replace Boris Johnson, which took around three months, the new British Prime Minister will be defined much more quickly and will be announced by October 28. See the following rules:
- Any candidate for the Conservative Party presidency must have nominations from at least 100 MPs from the party.
- Nominations are open until the 24th, Monday at 10:00 a.m. Brasilia time.
- If just one candidate secures the nominations of 100 lawmakers, that candidate automatically becomes party leader and UK Prime Minister.
- If there is more than one candidate, a vote will take place between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Brasília time among the elected MPs
- If there are more than two candidates, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated.
- The result of this vote, indicating the parliamentarians’ preference, will be announced at 2 p.m. Brasilia time.
- If a second preliminary vote is required, it will take place between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. with the result being announced at 5:00 p.m. ET
- Voting between the final two candidates will be conducted by the approximately 170,000 Conservative Party members through an online ballot.
- This poll among all party members closes Friday, October 28 at 7:00 p.m. PT.
- The result will be announced on the same day
Rishi Sunak, Indianborn leader
2 of 3 Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak remains first in the running for leader of the UK Conservative Party Photo: John Sibley/Portal
Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak remains first in the running for leader of the UK Conservative Party (Picture: John Sibley/Portal)
If elected, Sunak would become the UK’s first Indianborn Prime Minister. His family emigrated to Britain in the 1960s, a time when many people came from the former British colonies to help rebuild the country after World War II.
After graduating from Oxford University, he later went to Stanford University, where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire NR Narayana Murthy, founder of Indian outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd.
Sunak first caught national attention when, aged 39, he became finance secretary under Johnson when the pandemic hit Britain, developing a licensing scheme to help millions of people through multiple lockdowns.
“I have served as chancellor and helped steer our economy through the most difficult times,” Sunak said in a statement on Sunday. “The challenges we face now are even greater. But the opportunities if we make the right choice are phenomenal.”
Although polls show Sunak is more popular in the country, he remains deeply unpopular with much of the party affiliation after being accused of overthrowing Johnson.
Penny Mordaunt tries again
3 of 3 Secretary of State for International Trade, Penny Mordaunt, during the campaign for Prime Minister of the UK Photo: Henry Nicholls/Portal
International Trade Secretary Penny Mordaunt during the campaign for Prime Minister of the UK (Photo: Henry Nicholls/Portal)
In the last election that Truss won, Penny Mordaunt finished third. She was the first to announce that she would try to walk again. Despite only having the stated support of a few MPs, she said she was still in the running for victory.
“I am very confident about the progress we are making. I’m telling you, I’m in this to win,” Mordaunt said in an interview.
As a former Defense Secretary, Mordaunt was a passionate supporter of leaving the European Union. Mordaunt was praised for his performance in Parliament on Monday when he defended the government despite reversing most of its policies.
One MP described Mordaunt as “widespread”, referring to his ability to make friends across the party’s various tribes. If she doesn’t get at least 100 backers, she won’t even take part in the race.