The resignation this Thursday of British Prime Minister Liz Truss after 44 days as head of the British government will trigger an internal vote in the Conservative Party that should be completed by the end of next week.
Here are the possible candidates for his succession to the position of UK chief executive:
Rishi Sunak
Defeated by Liz Truss in the final stages of the Conservative Party leader’s nomination process last summer, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer was nevertheless the preferred candidate of Conservative MPs.
The wealthy 42-year-old ex-banker has the advantage of being a figure of budgetary orthodoxy.
Throughout the campaign, he kept repeating that unfunded tax cuts could drive inflation to record levels in decades and undermine market confidence.
The facts prove he’s right, but he has one major drawback: Many supporters of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson see him as a traitor, whose resignation earlier this summer hastened the downfall of the former Downing Street tenant.
Jeremy Hunt
Finance Minister since last Friday, October 11, the new Treasury director seemed to be the one in control ever since, while Liz Truss presented herself in a fragile position.
It was he who on Monday announced the turnaround that consisted of the reversal of nearly all of the Truss government’s fiscal measures that caused panic in the markets.
This 55-year-old former Foreign Secretary, experienced but considered uncharismatic, recently assured the British public television channel BBC that, after two failures, in 2019 and this summer, he has no intention of starting a race for power. .
Penny Mordaunt
The minister in charge of relations with parliament this summer took on Liz Truss to succeed Boris Johnson as head of the British government and was a favorite of Conservative militants at the start of the campaign.
Charismatic, this 49-year-old former defense minister distinguished himself in parliament on Monday by replacing Liz Truss for the opposition, confidently defending the change in economic direction and explaining that the prime minister is “not hidden under the desk”.
The Mordaunt-Sunak ‘ticket’ hypothesis was recently put forward.
Boris Johnson
It’s a scenario that has been circulating in the conservative press since last summer: The former prime minister, “BoJo,” would make his big comeback, setting himself up as an obvious name.
Buoyed by the election victory won at the end of 2019, giving the Conservatives an unprecedented majority since Margaret Thatcher, the ‘Brexit’ hero in the 1990s (for completing the complicated negotiation process over the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union ) is facing , however, major obstacles.
His resignation, forced by a succession of scandals, including that of the parties at the official Downing Street residence, in violation of restrictions to fight the covid-19 pandemic, happened not long ago and gives him a share of responsibility in the current institutional crisis.
And at a time when he is devoted to the paid teaching activity around the world, it remains to be seen whether Johnson, 58, will be willing to resume command of the party two years before the next parliamentary election, with polls pointing to a landslide victory for the Labor opposition.
Ben Wallace
One of the favorites in the latest Conservative Party leadership campaign, the defense secretary, who had decided not to run for British security, has seen his name resurface in recent days as a potential figure around which the party can unite.
Wallace, 52, appears to rule out such a scenario after assuring The Times on Tuesday that he would remain under the tutelage of the Defense Department.
Source: DN
