LONDON –
Nominations in the race to replace UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson closed on Tuesday, with eight Conservative lawmakers securing enough support from their colleagues to make the first vote. Former health secretary Sajid Javid, whose resignation last week helped bring down Johnson, was a surprise casualty as he failed to make the cut.
The candidates needed the backing of at least 20 fellow lawmakers to be on the ballot for the second round, which begins Wednesday.
Successful contenders include former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt and supporting lawmaker Tom Tugendhat. Also on the ballot are Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi, former Equality Minister Kemi Badenoch and former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Javid dropped out of the race on Tuesday after failing to get the 20 followers. He said serving in government had been “a real privilege.”
Two other candidates, Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps and Rep. Rehman Chisti, also dropped out after struggling to rally support.
The candidates are vying to replace Johnson, who resigned as Conservative leader last week amid a party revolt sparked by months of ethics scandals. He will remain in office as caretaker prime minister until his replacement is chosen as party chief. The winner of that contest will automatically become prime minister, without the need for a national election.
The new leader will be chosen in a two-stage election, in which the 358 Conservative lawmakers narrow the race down to two candidates through a series of elimination votes. The final pair will be put to a vote by party members across the country.
The first round of voting was scheduled for Wednesday, with candidates who fail to get at least 30 votes eliminated. More rounds will be held on Thursday and, if necessary, next week.
The party aims to complete the parliamentary stage of the elections before lawmakers take a summer break on July 21. The two finalists will spend the rest of the summer campaigning across the country.
The new leader will be announced when the House of Commons returns on September 5.
Many Conservatives are wary of leaving Johnson in office for long, worried that a lame leader is the last thing Britain needs with the war in Ukraine, food and energy price rises pushing inflation to levels not seen in decades and growing labor unrest.
Some also worry that Johnson, despondent over scandals over money, rule-bending and his handling of sexual misconduct allegations against lawmakers, could do damage during his final months in office.
The opposition Labor Party asked the House of Commons to make a motion of no confidence in Johnson this week, but the government refused to allow it, saying it was “not a valuable use of parliamentary time” due to a race to replace the first Minister. it was already running.
Labor accused the government of “running scared”.
In the open leadership race, the contenders are scrambling to differentiate themselves from the perceived front-runner, former Treasury Secretary Sunak, who already has the backing of more than three dozen lawmakers.
Many have repudiated the tax increases Sunak introduced to shore up UK finances battered by the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit: a 1.25% income tax increase for millions of workers and an increase in income tax. companies next year from 19% to 25%. Most candidates say they will rule out one or both.
Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, both committed Brexit supporters and Johnson allies, threw their support behind Truss as a “stop Sunak” candidate for the party’s right wing. .
“Liz always opposed Rishi’s higher taxes.” Rees-Mogg said. “She is a proper Eurosceptic, she will deliver with voters and she believes in low taxes.”
Sunak, whose resignation a week ago helped unseat Johnson, has cast himself as the fiscal probity candidate. Launching his campaign for the Tory leader on Tuesday, Sunak said the country needed “honesty and responsibility, not fairy tales” to get through tough economic times.
“It is not credible to promise much more spending and lower taxes,” he said.
Sunak also called for an end to the personal attacks that were already making the rounds in the contest, many of them directed at him. He said he would not “demonize” Johnson, whom he called a “remarkable” politician.
“I will not engage in the negativity that you have seen and read in the media. If others want to do that, let them,” he said. “That’s not who we are. We can be better than that.”