Boris Johnson's successor: "I will soon leave with my head held high"

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Photo: TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS

The race to succeed outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is on.

The Prime Minister's possible successors will have to hold their own in a vote within the Conservative Party this afternoon.

In a first vote on Tuesday, three of the eleven candidates had already been eliminated.

Now the tone among Tories is getting rougher.

Culture Minister Nadine Dorries accused the team led by ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak of "dirty tricks" to gain an advantage.

Sunak supporters are accused of having lent votes to ex-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to push an easy-to-beat candidate through to the finals.

Senior Tories unite against Sunak

Brexit Secretary of State Jacob Rees-Mogg also attacked Sunak.

Rees-Mogg told Sky News that the ex-Treasury Secretary had pushed through "economically damaging" tax increases.

He had previously even compared Sunak's tax policy to socialism – a swear word among British Conservatives.

Both Dorries and Rees-Mogg are considered staunch Johnson supporters.

Both spoke out in favor of Secretary of State Liz Truss as his successor.

Sunak is accused of stabbing Johnson in the back when he was Treasury Secretary.

Last week, Sunak announced his resignation from the cabinet at almost the same time as Health Minister Sajid Javid, triggering a wave of resignations among government employees that ultimately made it impossible for Johnson to remain in office.

The media speculated that Johnson loyalists were therefore working to bring down previous favorite Sunak.

Johnson swears unity

On the other hand, Johnson publicly vowed unity on Wednesday: the Conservatives would stand behind the winner of the selection process, Johnson said, according to the Reuters news agency.

In addition, the outgoing head of government tried to put his tenure in a good light: "I will soon leave with my head held high," said Johnson accordingly.

He is "proud" of his job.

Also in the running are Secretary of Commerce Penny Mordaunt, General Counsel Suella Braverman, Foreign Affairs Committee chair Tom Tugendhat, ex-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Nadhim Zahawi, who Johnson appointed after Sunak's departure, and MP Kemi Badenoch.

Betting provider sees Sunak ahead, poll Mordaunt

British bookmakers recently gave Sunak the best chance of emerging from the election process as party leader and thus ultimately as prime minister.

At the bookmaker »Ladbrokes«, Mordaunt follows in second place ahead of Truss.

Tugendhat and Hunt would therefore only have outsider chances.

A survey by the opinion research institute YouGov among 879 Tory members came to a different conclusion.

According to this, Mordaunt would clearly defeat all other candidates in a direct duel, while Sunak could only clearly hold his own against Hunt, in a duel against Truss he would even lose.

fek/dpa/Reuters