Turbulent Johnson successor: Eight candidates take the first hurdle
Created: 07/13/2022 05:19
By: Florian Naumann
Successor wanted: Eight politicians from the Conservative Party in Great Britain want to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
© Alberto Pezzali/dpa
Great Britain is looking for a new head of government.
Eight Tory politicians have cleared the first hurdle in the race to succeed Johnson.
Boris Johnson
leaves,
successor
wanted: The search for the next prime minister is underway in Great Britain.
Labor wants to thwart Tory plans: The opposition wants to start a no-confidence vote on Wednesday.
Update from July 12, 8 p.m.:
Eight politicians from the British Conservative Party have cleared the first hurdle in the race to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
This was announced by the chairman of the party body, Graham Brady, on Tuesday evening.
In the first step, each candidate had to get at least 20 votes from supporters from the ranks of the Tory group.
The actual selection process for the party chairmanship and thus also the post of head of government begins this Wednesday.
The following eight candidates each had 20 supporters:
Rishi Sunak (42, Ex-Finance Minister)
Penny Mordaunt (49, Secretary of Commerce)
Liz Truss (46, Secretary of State)
Nadhim Zahawi (55, Finance Minister)
Tom Tugendhat (49, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee)
Suella Braverman (42, Attorney General for England and Wales)
Jeremy Hunt (55, ex-Secretary of State)
Kemi Badenoch (42, ex-minister for women)
Johnson: Tories seek new prime minister - two more candidates out of the running
Former Health Minister Sajid Navid and Rehman Chishti, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Development, are no longer in the running.
Former Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak, Secretary of State Liz Truss and Secretary of Commerce Penny Mordaunt are considered favorites to succeed Johnson.
According to reports, a round of introductions was still on the agenda in the parliamentary group that evening.
On Wednesday, the candidates then need at least 30 supporters from the parliamentary group to advance to the next round.
Another vote is scheduled for Thursday.
Should more than two candidates remain, further rounds are planned in the coming week.
The party members are to decide between the last two candidates in a runoff election over the summer.
Johnson successor wanted: favorite trio around ex-Treasury Secretary Sunak
Update from July 12, 4:20 p.m .:
The selection round for the successor to Boris Johnson is running: During the day, the applicants should officially register their candidacy, election rounds are to take place on Wednesday and Thursday and, if necessary, on Monday, so that in the end only still face two candidates.
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There has already been a first departure from the ranks of candidates: Transport Minister Grant Shapps withdrew his candidacy and backed former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, who was also running for office.
The latter took a quite remarkable line in announcing his candidacy - he stayed in touch with Johnson.
The prime minister is "one of the most outstanding personalities" he has ever met, Sunak said, according to the BBC.
He will not participate in a "rewriting of history" that "want to demonize Boris".
By Tuesday noon, ten Tory politicians were in the running:
Rishi Sunak (42, Ex-Finance Minister)
Penny Mordaunt (49, Secretary of Commerce)
Liz Truss (46, Secretary of State)
Tom Tugendhat (49, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee)
Nadhim Zahawi (55, Finance Minister)
Kemi Badenoch (42, ex-minister for women)
Jeremy Hunt (55, ex-Secretary of State)
Sajid Navid (52, Ex-Minister of Health)
Suella Braverman (42, Attorney General for England and Wales)
Rehman Chishti (43, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Development)
Ex-Treasury Secretary Sunak and former Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt were tied at the top of English bookies on Tuesday, followed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
According to a report by the
Mirror
, by 4 p.m. German time, alongside Sunak, Mordaunt and Truss, Tom Tugendhat had also reached the required number of 20 supporters from the Tory faction.
Badenoch was only missing two votes, while Chishti had only received one supporter's signature.
The candidates have until 7 p.m. German time to reach the quorum.
Johnson leaves: three candidates for prime minister ready early – Labor wants to torpedo plans
Back to 10 Downing Street: Boris Johnson will probably resign as Prime Minister by the beginning of September at the latest.
© IMAGO/i Images
Preliminary report from July 12:
London – Things are getting serious in the race to succeed outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson: the official selection process has begun.
Candidates for the post of Tory party leader – and therefore prime minister – have until Tuesday evening to submit their applications.
One woman and two men reached the quorum shortly after the start of the deadline.
On September 5th, a successor for the notoriously scandal-ridden Johnson should be chosen.
However, the opposition still wants to thwart Tory's plans: a vote of no confidence is being planned, as was also made public on Tuesday (July 11) via the BBC.
Boris Johnson: Eleven Tory politicians want to succeed him - three had reached the quorum early
By the beginning of the week, however, eleven women and men had announced their candidacy to succeed Johnson.
Three of them had already reached the necessary threshold by Tuesday morning: ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, Secretary of Commerce Penny Mordaunt and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat.
Foreign Minister Liz Truss and Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi are also given good chances of making the leap into the official race.
There was an additional hurdle to be overcome shortly before that: the responsible party committee of the British Conservatives had increased the necessary quorum on Monday evening.
Instead of the previous 8, 20 supporters from the Tory faction are now required.
Other candidates include ex-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, General Counsel Suella Braverman, ex-Health Secretary Sajid Javid, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and MPs Kemi Badenoch and Rehman Chisthi.
It was eagerly awaited whether Home Secretary Priti Patel would also throw her hat in the ring.
UK: Johnson facing new no-confidence vote?
Labor wants to torpedo Torpedo plans
But Labor now wants to oust Johnson quickly: not just before September 5, but on Wednesday (July 13).
Then, according to the opposition's plans, a vote of no confidence could be held, as the BBC reported, citing party circles.
It seems unlikely that Labor will succeed.
This would require a larger number of Conservative MPs to vote against Johnson.
If no interim prime minister were found afterwards, new elections could soon take place.
That would hardly be in the interests of the Tories.
It is more obvious that the party's internal plan for Johnson's successor will be implemented: the first round of voting in the Tory parliamentary group is to take place on Wednesday.
Anyone who then misses the hurdle of 30 supporters is thrown out.
Another round is scheduled for Thursday.
If there are still more than two candidates in the race, the procedure should be continued next Monday.
The last two candidates are to face a selection process by party members over the summer.
(
dpa/fn
)
