The two politicians were the most voted in the Conservative parliamentary group’s vote on Wednesday, as the head of the responsible committee, Graham Brady, announced. Secretary of Commerce Penny Mordaunt received the fewest votes, losing just eight fewer votes to Truss.
Now the Tory party members decide in a second round. On September 5, a decision will be made on who will succeed Johnson at Downing Street. The vote became necessary because Johnson resigned as party leader two weeks ago under massive pressure from a parliamentary group.
In all rounds of voting in the parliamentary group, the largest number of parliamentarians voted for Sunak. However, the 42-year-old, who also appeals to the center of the party, is internally controversial. Above all, the conservative right wing around Truss accuses Sunak of being responsible for the biggest tax hikes in recent decades.
Current Prime Minister Johnson is also considered an opponent: those around him have accused the former Chancellor of the Exchequer of having betrayed the head of government by instigating Johnson’s downfall with his resignation. Sunak rejects this. The result of a poll by the YouGov polling institute among conservative party members on Tuesday also brought him bad news. Thus, he must lose in the second round.
Secretary of State Truss was considered a favorite from the start. However, she always finished third in the first round of elections, behind former foreign aid and defense secretary Mordaunt, who had long been considered the darling of the party’s rank and file. She has made a name for herself as a vehement supporter of Brexit and has received much approval from the party’s base. However, Mordaunt was a thorn in the side of far-right conservatives, who accused her of overly liberal views on gender issues and lack of cabinet experience. As the only remaining representative of the right, Truss, 46, apparently managed to convince many lawmakers who had previously voted for former secretary of state Kemi Badenoch, who was also a right-wing conservative.
Now party members have the floor. However, it is unclear how many there are at the moment. In the previous party leader election in 2019, when Boris Johnson prevailed, there were around 160,000 members. Early next week, the BBC wants to broadcast a TV duel between the last two candidates, which the candidates have already agreed to.