In the United Kingdom, on Friday evening July 15, the first televised debate on the British channel Channel 4 takes place between the five candidates vying to succeed Boris Johnson. A face-to-face where the candidates had to answer questions from the public and where many topics were discussed in order to select the new Prime Minister. The Conservative MPs will vote several times to eliminate the candidates one by one. The two finalists will be chosen by the 160,000 members of the Conservative Party on September 5th.
Who will be the next British Prime Minister? Secretary of State for International Trade Penny Mordaunt, ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak, the head of diplomacy Liz Trussthe former Secretary of State for Equality Kemi Badenoch and the deputy Tom Tugendhat had Friday evening 90 minutes to convince: the five candidates are all members of the Conservative Party, just like Boris Johnson but were not yet at the comfortable when the Channel 4 presenter asked a direct question: ” Yes or no, is Boris Johnson honest? »
Laughter is heard in the audience, reports our correspondent, Laura Kalmus. ” Not always replied Kemi Badenoch, looking down. But everyone was waiting for the response from the two favourites. Rishi Sunak, former Minister of Finance, wanted to distance himself from the resigning Prime Minister: “ I tried my best to give him the benefit of the doubt for as long as possible, but I couldn’t anymore and that’s why I quit. »
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Purchasing power on the menu
And Penny Mordaunt, little known to the British but who, according to the polls, would beat all her rivals in the event of a duel, said for her part: “ There have been (in government) serious problems and I think he (Boris Johnson) has paid the price. »
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The five candidates wanted to stand out by exposing their way of managing the crisis in the cost of living and inflation. Penny Mordaunt would like to lower taxes, Rishi Sunak blasted “ fairy tales “, judging this decline unrealistic.
Surprise of the evening, Tom Tugendhat would be the winner of this debate: 36% of the thousand people questioned would have voted for him.
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