(London) Six competitors, four women and two men, are still in the saddle on Wednesday to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after a first round of voting in which Conservative MPs placed former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak in the lead.
Updated yesterday at 3:19 p.m.
Nearly a week after the announcement of the resignation of Boris Johnson, swept away by cascading departures within a government weary of scandals, two of the eight contenders have been eliminated from the race for Downing Street.
Ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak, 42, whose resignation helped trigger the haemorrhage, came out on top on Wednesday with 88 votes.
PHOTO ALBERTO PEZZALI, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak, 42, got the most votes in the first ballot, with 88 votes.
Little known to the general public, but on the rise, Secretary of State for International Trade Penny Mordaunt came second with 67 votes, ahead of Foreign Minister Liz Truss (50 votes).
A second round is to be held on Thursday, the aim being to designate the two finalists before the end of next week. They will have to be decided by party members -160,000 voters in the last internal election of 2019. The result is expected on September 5.
According to a YouGov poll of Conservative voters on Wednesday, Penny Mordaunt, their favorite candidate, would beat all her rivals in a final duel.
In camera debates
Launching his campaign on Wednesday, Mme Mordaunt, 49, compared the Tories to Beatles legend Paul McCartney at Glastonbury Festival.
“We indulged in all these new tunes, but what we really wanted was the good old hit that we knew the words to: low tax, reduced state, personal responsibility,” she said. declared.
Other candidates still in the running, mostly largely unknown to the general public, are MP Tom Tugendhat, Government Legal Adviser (“Attorney General”) Suella Braverman, ex-Secretary of State for Equality Kemi Badenoch .
New Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi and former Health Minister Jeremy Hunt were eliminated on Wednesday.
PHOTO VIA AGENCY FRANCE-PRESSE
Listing Brexit, the vaccination campaign against COVID-19, or even the “decisive role” of the United Kingdom vis-à-vis Ukraine against the “brutal invasion” by Russia of Vladimir Putin, Boris Johnson s is declared “proud of the tremendous teamwork” accomplished under his leadership.
The first announced that he would not intervene in the campaign, the second warned against attacks between suitors: “the country is watching and has had enough of our dramas”.
Mr. Johnson resigned on July 7 after about 60 members of his executive had slammed the door, tired of repeated scandals and his lies. However, he remains Prime Minister until his successor is known.
Facing the deputies in the House of Commons, he said he was “proud” of his record on Wednesday. “It is absolutely true that I am leaving at a time that I did not choose,” he regretted during the weekly question session before Parliament, which was particularly rowdy. “But I leave with my head held high.”
In this campaign as bitter as it is unpredictable, the candidates work hard to convince the deputies in meetings which take place behind closed doors. Several were thus auditioned on Wednesday by Conservative MPs. Three televised debates are also scheduled for the next few days.
Brutal Campaign
The campaign, which is aimed solely at members of the Conservative party, is clearly marked on the right and brings together its share of low blows and controversy.
Among the heavyweights, Rishi Sunak is the subject of virulent attacks from the Johnson camp, which accuses him of having led the Prime Minister to his downfall by launching the wave of resignations on July 4.
Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, a fervent supporter of Boris Johnson, thus qualified him as a “socialist” former chancellor.
False, retorts the person concerned who considers that his economic approach is “Thatcherite common sense”, in reference to the former ultraliberal Prime Minister.
The faithful of Boris Johnson prefer another admirer of Thatcher: Liz Truss, who remained in government despite the massive bleeding last week.
The appointment of the new prime minister comes amid a cost-of-living crisis, with British households strangled by inflation, at 9.1%, even as the country’s GDP rebounded 0.5% in May.
If the government is to remain in office until the new leader is appointed, it has decided to present a motion of no confidence against itself. Sure of a failure of such a vote, the government was thus responding to a motion tabled Tuesday by the opposition which considers it “intolerable” that Boris Johnson remains in power until September. This motion was refused by the government, considering it inappropriate to vote against a resigning prime minister.