On Friday, a number of British legislators, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, were seeking support ahead of a brief but contentious election to succeed Liz Truss as the nation’s leader.
Truss resigned on Thursday (UK time) after serving a contentious 45-day term, admitting she was unable to carry out her objectives for economic growth and tax reduction.
A new leader of the Conservative Party, who will also serve as prime minister, will be selected within a week thanks to a sped-up election process.
The bookmakers’ favourites include Johnson, who was forced to leave by the party just over three months ago after being embroiled in problems over his ethics and money, as well as former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt. If he were to come back, it would be a remarkable comeback for a politician who is both polarising and well-liked.
Johnson, who remained an MP after leaving his position as prime minister, has not said if he will run, but his parliamentary friends are attempting to rally support.
Candidates for the position of leader must receive the support of 100 of the 357 Conservative legislators by Monday afternoon, limiting the field to three. Following an indicative vote on the final two, lawmakers will vote to eliminate one of those.
The two candidates will then be put to a vote online by the party’s 172,000 members. By October 28, the new leader must be chosen.
Sunak, who came second to Truss in a summertime leadership contest, is favoured by some as a safe pair of hands who can steady the struggling economy. Third-place finisher Mordaunt enjoys support from the party’s base.
Johnson, however, is the wild card in the race. Some in the party revere him as a proven vote-winner with a rare common touch, while others despise him for the mayhem and controversy that ruined his three years in office.
He should be chosen, according to Johnson ally Nadine Dorries, since “he is a known winner” who helped the Conservatives win a sizable election in 2019.
The party must have a winner in place in order to survive, she said Sky News.
But some other Conservative legislators said they would leave the party if Johnson – who faces an ongoing probe by a standards committee over whether he lied to Parliament – returned as leader.
According to Tory member Roger Gale, “I cannot see any path forward in government, at any level, for somebody who is under that type of scrutiny and I think quite divisive.”
And I believe that some individuals, including myself, would find themselves in the terrible situation of having to resign the Conservative whip.
After Truss became the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, the party held its second leadership election this year. She was elected leader by the Conservatives early last month after a party election to replace Johnson.
The free-market economic plan put forth by Truss shook up the financial markets, raised the cost of mortgages and government borrowing, and necessitated an immediate Bank of England intervention. Truss made a number of U-turns and removed her Treasury director, but her party’s lawmakers rebelled.
On Thursday, Truss said, “I cannot deliver the mandate on which the Conservative Party elected me.
The Conservative crisis is escalating calls for a general election, and the incoming leader will be Britain’s third prime minister this year. There does not need to be one under the British parliamentary system until 2024, which is five years after the 2019 election that was won by the Conservatives under Johnson.
The turmoil since then, according to opposition lawmakers, as well as Truss’ choice to abandon many of the programmes Johnson ran on, demonstrate that the government lacks democratic legitimacy.
According to polls, the left-of-center Labour Party would likely gain a sizable majority and would completely destroy the Conservative Party if elections were held right now.
The Conservatives, according to Labour leader Keir Starmer, are in charge of a “revolving door of anarchy.”
He declared, “This is really harming our economy and the standing of our nation.”
“We need an opportunity for a new beginning. A national election is urgently necessary.
As the UK Tories choose a new leader, Boris Johnson considers a comeback.
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