The ten candidates to replace Boris Johnson on the starting list having been decided by the 357 British Conservative MPs, it is now up to the 160,000 members of the Tory party to choose between the two finalists, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss: they have the whole month of August to do so, by postal vote. Who are these people, representing at most 0.35% of the British electorate, whose decision affects the destiny of an entire country?
Donors, municipal councillors, activists… According to a study carried out by the Queen Mary University of London, party members are 70% men, rather old (about fifty on average), and do not represent the ethnic diversity of the country. “They tend to be more radical, more right wing than the average Conservative voter – because they are committed activists, ready to give the party money”underlines Chris Curtis, of the institute of polls Opinium Research.
They worry, for example, more about immigration than about climate change, “because 90% of them will be dead in 2050 [date à laquelle le gouvernement britannique s’est engagé à parvenir à la neutralité carbone] », admitted Conservative MP Chris Skidmore a few days ago, citing a YouGov poll that found that only 4% of Conservative Party members consider the national climate change strategy one of their three priorities.
Bidding of candidates
“They are especially radical in economic matters, very much in favor of tax cuts and very much against public spending, it is on these themes that they diverge the most from Tory voters”, adds Chris Curtis. This is why the candidates – with the notable exception of Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson’s ex-chancellor of the exchequer – have outbid their promises of tax cuts, deemed largely unrealistic given the situation. of the country (large financing needs for public services, in particular the hospital, and galloping inflation).
On the other hand, the members of the party would not have a priori as to the gender – the Conservative Party has already given two prime ministers to the country (Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May) – or to the ethnic origin of the candidates – Mr. Sunak is of Indian descent. “They are perfectly ready to vote for a woman of color”observes Michael Gove, former Minister of State in the Johnson government, who supported the candidacy of Kemi Badenoch, British of Nigerian origin (she was eliminated on Tuesday, July 19).
You have 49.17% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
