There are currently five cabinet members in the running: in addition to Mordaunt and Truss, Treasury Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps and General Counsel Suella Braverman. According to media reports, the application period runs until Tuesday night. Next, the Conservative Party faction members select two candidates in several rounds of voting – the party members decide between them in a second round.
Former finance minister Rishi Sunak, who is supported by a number of influential conservatives, is currently a punters’ favorite. However, supporters of the current Prime Minister Johnson accuse him of betraying the head of government, as reported in the Sunday newspaper “Observer”. Other candidates include former cabinet members Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt, former Secretary of State Kimi Badenoch and Foreign Affairs Committee head Tom Tugendhat.
“I’m sure we’ll get a few more candidates before we close the nominations phase on Monday, and then the selection process will begin,” Geoffrey Clifton-Brown of the relevant party committee told LBC. Media had previously reported that the application period ended on Tuesday. The 358 members of the Conservative parliamentary group then determine two candidates in several ballots, in which candidates with the fewest votes are always eliminated. That must be done by Parliament’s summer recess on July 21, Clifton-Brown said. Finally, party members decide on the winner in a second round.
At the heart of the election campaign are questions about tax cuts to ease consumers in the face of soaring inflation, dealing with the EU after Brexit and immigration policy.
There were new allegations against incumbent Johnson. In 2008, when he was mayor of London, he allegedly encouraged a young woman to apply for a job at City Hall, who in turn accused him of using her office to have a sexual relationship with her. This is suggested by recordings of a conversation between the two in 2017, which the “Sunday Times” published. When asked by the newspaper, Downing Street pointed out that the allegations predate Johnson’s time as prime minister. Furthermore, there is no need to comment on the 58-year-old’s private life.