(Leeds) The candidates for the succession of Boris Johnson, Liz Trus and Rishi Sunak, inaugurated Thursday evening the first of a series of 12 debates across the country to convince the adherents of the Conservative party.
Posted at 6:21 p.m.
It is up to members of the majority party in the House of Commons – estimated at nearly 200,000 – to vote by post during the month of August to choose the successor to Boris Johnson, forced to announce his departure in early July after a succession of scandals. The result is expected on September 5.
Given as the favorite in the polls, Foreign Minister Liz Truss received strong support on Thursday evening: that of Defense Minister Ben Wallace.
“Her experience makes her best placed to defend the United Kingdom in these troubled times,” wrote in a column in the Times Ben Wallace, who, although given among the big favorites, had given up starting the race three weeks ago to concentrate on his current task and “ensure the security of the country”.
First alone on stage and then subjected one after the other to a question-and-answer session – thus avoiding the risk of a potentially fratricidal direct confrontation – Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak engaged in an operation of seduction in front of their audience in Leeds, in the north of England, in one of the few Labor strongholds that resisted the blue wave of December 2019.
Everyone rolled out their program, also playing the proximity card, Liz Truss as a local child, stressing that she grew up in the city of Leeds, where her parents still live, Rishi Sunak as a neighbour, her constituency being not far.
At ease occupying the space, ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak, of Indian descent, joked about the weather in the region which would have earned him compliments on his “tan”, before d insist on the need to “restore confidence”, a way of standing out from Boris Johnson, whose three years at the head of the government have been marked by a succession of scandals.
Asked if he had not “stabbed in the back” Boris Johnson, applauded by the assistance, Rishi Sunak endeavored to express his gratitude to the Prime Minister and assured that it was because differences over economic policy that he had left the government. “I had no choice,” he said.
The 42-year-old former finance minister insisted on his family history, embodying, according to him, “conservative values” and designated inflation as “the enemy that impoverishes everyone”. As for his lifestyle, the former banker stressed that more than his Prada shoes or his expensive tailor-made suits, what matters is what he will “do for the country”.
He repeated his refusal to lower taxes before any lull on the front of rising prices, where Liz Truss promises a drop in tax pressure “from day one”.
Acknowledging the outsider position given to him by the polls, Rishi Sunak, years old, repeated that he would fight “for every vote”.
Also seeming to be her hand in an exercise in which she is generally less comfortable, Liz Truss, 47, managed to win a frank approval by mentioning subjects like transport, British support for Ukraine, support for local farmers.
Over the questions, she also saw her participation in a demonstration for the abolition of the monarchy resurface in 1994.
Amused, she replied that Queen Elizabeth II is “far too polite” to mention this episode during the first audience she would grant Liz Truss if she reached Downing Street. But “almost immediately after giving that speech, I regretted it,” she added.
The two finalists have already faced each other in two televised debates earlier this week, the second of which on Tuesday was cut short after the presenter passed out on set.