Six candidates were still in the running on Wednesday to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The first round of voting by Conservative MPs put ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak in the lead.
Unsurprisingly, it was Rishi Sunak who came out on top in this first round of voting to appoint the successor to the Resigning Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The 42-year-old ex-finance minister, whose resignation last week helped trigger a haemorrhage of departures within the executive, won 88 votes.
Little known to the general public, but on the rise, Secretary of State for International Trade Penny Mordaunt came second with 67 votes, ahead of Foreign Minister Liz Truss (50 votes). Other candidates still in the running, mostly largely unknown to the general public, are MP Tom Tugendhat, government legal adviser Suella Braverman, ex-secretary of state for equality Kemi Badenoch. New finance minister Nadhim Zahawi and former health minister Jeremy Hunt were eliminated after failing to garner the 30 votes needed to qualify for the next round.
Penny Mordaunt favorite of Tory voters
This Wednesday evening, neither of the two eliminated had given his support to one of the remaining candidates. The race has already begun to collect their 47 votes for the second round, this Thursday. The objective is to designate the two finalists before the end of next week. The winner, elected by party members – 160,000 voters in the last internal election of 2019 – should be known on September 5. According to a YouGov poll of Conservative voters, Penny Mordaunt would come out on top in terms of voting intentions and beat all her rivals in the event of a duel.
Boris Johnson resigned on July 7 after around 60 members of his executive slammed the door, tired of repeated scandals and his lies. However, he remains Prime Minister until his successor is known. Facing the deputies in the House of Commons, he said to himself “ proud ” this Wednesday of his balance sheet. ” It’s absolutely true that I’m leaving at a time that I didn’t choose “, he regretted during the weekly session of questions in front of the Parliament, particularly rowdy. ” But I leave with my head held high “.
In this campaign as bitter as it is unpredictable, the candidates work hard to convince the deputies in meetings which take place behind closed doors. Several were thus auditioned on Wednesday by Conservative MPs. Several televised debates are also planned in the coming days.
(With AFP)