The pressure was too great. Pushed towards the exit by around sixty resignations within his government team, Boris Johnson finally announced on Thursday July 7 that he was renouncing the presidency of the Conservative Party. This amounts, in the British system, to renouncing to run the country. He thus opens the way to his succession and should, in the meantime, expedite current affairs.
While “BoJo” has not yet packed his bags from 10 Downing Street, several names have already been mentioned to succeed him. Overview of the most serious contenders.
- Liz Truss: The Most Thatcher
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, October 27, 2021, in London.
afp.com/Ben STANSALL
Why she has her chances. At the end of December, the site Conservative Home made it the darling of conservative sympathizers, in front of Rishi Sunak. The 46-year-old foreign minister has served in all governments since 2014. This free-enterprise enthusiast is refining her image as Thatcher’s heiress, even appearing last year, like her idol, on a tank facing the cameras or sporting a wardrobe in the same colors. The last two years have been rather successful for him, to sign the new trade agreements of a United Kingdom divorced from the European Union.
Her downsides. She voted against Brexit. But she said she regretted it, a few months later, when the tide had turned… She is not very comfortable speaking, as an intervention had shown, in 2014, where she castigated cheese imports. She proved loyal to Johnson after the fatal resignations of Sunak and Javid.
- Rishi Sunak: the most smiling
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak at COP26 in Glasgow.
afp.com/Daniel LEAL
Why he has his chances. When the Conservatives change Prime Minister during their mandate, they often opt for the Minister of Finance (Harold Macmillan in 1957, John Major in 1990). In this position, over the past two years, the 41-year-old golden-boy, who made his fortune in finance, first forged the image of a competent manager, in the midst of the Covid-19 storm, with its employee and business support program. Always impeccably dressed, smiling, this grandson of Indian immigrants bet right by voting Brexit during the referendum.
Her downsides. He has only been an MP since 2015. His profile is not to seduce the working classes: he defends a rebalancing of the accounts, which could frighten the Conservative MPs elected in former Labor constituencies in the north of England. Above all, his rating has fallen in recent months after the revelation that his wife, from a wealthy Indian family, has benefited from tax arrangements.
- Nadhim Zahawi: the most ambitious
Nadhim Zahawi, July 6, after his appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
AFP/Daniel LEAL
Why he has his chances. This son of Iraqi immigrants is the suitor whose political momentum has been the strongest in recent times. The 55-year-old former founder of the YouGov pollster has risen to popularity as vaccine minister during the Covid-19 pandemic. According The Times, he has been working for months, behind the scenes, on this Tory leadership race with relatives of Lynton Crosby. This Australian was the strategist of Boris Johnson’s double victory as mayor of London and of David Cameron’s victorious campaign in 2015.
Her downsides. He doesn’t have the experience of Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak. And he could pay for having agreed to succeed Sunak on Tuesday, July 5, when Boris Johnson began his political fall.
- Jeremy Hunt: the most outsider
Jeremy Hunt here in Birmingham on September 30, 2018.
afp.com/Ben STANSALL
Why he has his chances. The former foreign secretary was the runner-up in the last election to lead the Conservative Party, in 2019, against Johnson. With him, the conservatives would break with the exuberance of the current Prime Minister. He had been loyal to Boris Johnson, at first, welcoming his management of the vaccine campaign. Then, after Partygate, he positioned himself against the Prime Minister, until voting for his departure during the vote of no confidence organized at the beginning of June.
Her downsides. His opponents denigrated his lack of charisma, saying he was “Theresa May in pants”. While Johnson was able to seduce a popular electorate, Hunt risks suffering from his belonging to high society: he went to the best schools and his father led the “Royal Navy”.
Other suitors?
The former Minister of Housing and Communities, Michael Gove could try his luck a third time, after 2016 and 2019, but drags a reputation of traitor – he had soaped the board to Boris Johnson at the time of the succession of David Cameron. Another ball: he admitted to having taken cocaine in the past.
Sajid Javid gave Johnson the final blow on Tuesday night with Sunak, resigning as health minister ahead of a damning speech the following day in parliament. This blow could alienate the deputies loyal to Johnson in the race which opens.
The Secretary of State for Commerce, Penny Mordaunt, is an outspoken Brexit advocate. She is a good orator, unlike Truss, able to unite different party tendencies.
The Minister of Defence, Ben Wallacepopular with activists, thanks to his good management of military support for Ukraine since the Russian invasion. A YouGov poll made public this Thursday, July 5, makes it the favorite against all its other competitors. But he has been careful, until now, to show such ambition.
The deputy Tom Tugendhat is an option for a clean break with the Johnson years, which he did not hesitate to criticize. This former soldier, specialist in foreign policy, has the ambition to lead the United Kingdom one day. He was able to multiply the key speeches in Parliament. But he is perhaps too “moderate” within the party to be able to convince.