The duel in the British Conservative Party’s race for power to succeed Boris Johnson will pit Rishi Sunak, the former finance minister, against and Liz Truss, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. After an express campaign launched following the resignation on July 7 of the Prime Minister, swept away by scandals and lies, British Conservative MPs voted for a fifth and final time on Wednesday July 20 to choose the finalists, including one will occupy Downing Street. The 200,000 party members must now decide between them in a postal vote, the result of which is to be announced on September 5.
It is now certain that the British government will be led either for the first time by a non-white man, or for the third time by a woman. The former finance minister remained in the lead on Tuesday after a fourth vote by Conservative MPs, ahead of the Secretary of State for International Trade, Penny Mordaunt, closely followed by the head of diplomacy.
Bowing out during a final question and answer session in Parliament as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson cracked a “hasta la vista, baby” and advice for his or her successor:
“Stay close to Americans, support Ukrainians, fight for freedom and democracy everywhere. Lower taxes and deregulate where you can to make this country the best place to live and invest. »
“I want to thank everybody here, and hasta la vista, baby.” Boris Johnson closes his final PMQs with some advice t… https://t.co/LIh1yL6SlP
Very open race
Rishi Sunak, 42, whose departure from government in early July helped precipitate the downfall of Boris Johnson, had been in the lead since the first vote. But the competition, very open, was far from won for the one who seems less popular with the base of the party than with the deputies.
For her part, Liz Truss, 46, was deemed unconvincing last week but managed to close the gap. She also seems in the best position to recover the votes of former candidate Kemi Badenoch, who, like her, represents the right wing of the Tories.
Mr Sunak has been accused by MP David Davis of seeking to “reallocate” some of his votes to Liz Truss in order to eliminate Penny Mordaunt, whom he considered harder to beat. “This is the dirtiest campaign I have ever seen”said Mr. Davis on LBC radio.
Mme Mordaunt, 49 and almost unknown to Brits just ten days ago, was blasted favorite in a YouGov poll last week but deemed unclear and unconvincing in two televised debates.
The crisis of confidence and questions of integrity have marked the campaign, with the candidates all saying they want to turn – at least in form – the page of the Johnson era marred by scandals. The candidates also debated widely over how they plan to tackle the cost of living crisis that is strangling British households, as inflation rose further in June, hitting 9.4% year on year.
A debate between the two finalists will be held on July 25 on the BBC, the public broadcasting group announced. It will take place live from Stoke-on-Trent, a city in central England which voted more than 69% for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, in front of an audience of 80 to 100 people.
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