London
CNN
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Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak is the frontrunner to be the country’s next prime minister. Prime MinisterAfter Boris Johnson Dramatic exit from the race for the Conservative Party leadership.
Current Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned last week after six disastrous weeks in office. Graham Brady, the Conservative official in charge of the leadership race, said the new prime minister would be in place by Friday.
For candidates Replace the truss He has until Monday at 2 p.m. (9 a.m. ET) to win the support of 100 Conservative Party legislators — the party — and the country — to run for the new leader.
Johnson’s decision to withdraw from the race leaves former chancellor Sunak up against House of Commons leader Benny Mordant.
If both candidates get the support of 100 MPs, it will be approx 172,000 members of the Conservative Party To elect a new leader in online voting.
As of Monday morning, only Sunak of the pair had reached the 100-nomination threshold.
If only Sunak reaches this number of supporters, he will automatically become the new leader of the Conservative Party. The party’s parliamentary majority ensures that he will also become the country’s next prime minister.
After days of speculation, Mr Chung officially announced he was standing in the race on Sunday, writing on Twitter: “The United Kingdom is a great country, but we face a deep economic crisis. That’s why I’m standing as leader of the Conservative Party and as your next Prime Minister. Fix our economy, unite our party and deliver for our country. like
“There will be integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level of government I lead, and I will work around the clock to get the job done.”
Many of Johnson’s supporters have accused Sunak of helping to oust Johnson from power in July after a series of scandals, but on Sunday evening he paid tribute to the former prime minister after he withdrew from the race.
“Boris Johnson delivered Brexit and a great vaccine roll-out. He led our country through some of the toughest challenges we’ve faced, then took on Putin and his brutal war in Ukraine. We’ll be forever grateful for that,” Sunak tweeted. “He’s running for PM again. Even if he decides not to, I am sure he will continue to contribute to public life at home and abroad.”
Johnson, who announced he was withdrawing from the race, announced that he had received the nominations of 102 MPs, although the number of lawmakers who publicly declared his support was much lower. And he took a swipe at Sunak and Truss for failing to get them to support his comeback.
“I have a good chance of winning the election with the Conservatives – and I could be back in Downing Street on Friday,” Johnson said. “But in the last few days I have unfortunately come to the conclusion that this may not be the right course of action. “Unless you have a united party in Parliament, you cannot govern effectively,” he said.
“Even though I contacted both Rishi (Chunak) and Benny (Mordant) – because I believed we could come together in the national interest – unfortunately we could not work out a way to do this,” he added. . “So the best thing is that I don’t let my nomination go ahead and I will give my support to whoever wins. I believe I have a lot to offer, but I’m afraid it’s not the right time.
Mordaunt first announced his candidacy on Friday. He promised a “fresh start” for England, aiming to “unite our country, deliver on our promises and win the next general election”. He runs under a catchy hashtag: “PM4PM.”
He also praised Johnson’s decision to withdraw from the race, saying the former prime minister “put country before party, party before self”.
“He worked to preserve the mandate and the majority we now enjoy. We must use it well and I know he will work with us to do so,” he said on Twitter.
Mordaunt came third in the last leadership election, missing out on being put before members. Having secured 105 votes from MPs in the last election, he is also expected to sweep the new threshold and will do well among party members because of his military credentials. Mordant was a reservist in the Royal Navy and briefly served as Secretary of State for Defence.
The last time the Conservatives held a leadership race – following the demise of Johnson’s government – Truss was first, Sunak second and Mordant third. Johnson didn’t run.
Keir Starmer, the leader of the main opposition Labor party, renewed his calls for a general election on Sunday after saying people were “fed up to the teeth” with the Conservative leadership and their government’s decisions.
“A choice has to be made. A general election! Let the public decide … do they want to continue with this whole mess or do they want stability under a Labor government?” Starmer asked during a BBC interview.
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