Former Finance Minister Sunak is leading the race for the UK Prime Ministership
Former Prime Minister Johnson returned from a Caribbean vacation earlier than planned in an apparent bid to launch his comeback, just two months after he was ousted as prime minister by his Conservative Party.
Currently, Sunak has the support of 128 conservative lawmakers, Johnson with 53 votes
news agencies
10/23/2022
Sunday, October 23, 2022, 11:38 Updated: 11:52
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Conservative rivals Boris Johnson, the former British Prime Minister, and Rishi Sonak, the former Minister of Finance, held a private conversation last night (Saturday) with the aim of possibly reaching an agreement regarding the leadership of the Conservative Party and the Prime Ministership of the United Kingdom.
This follows the retirement on Thursday of Prime Minister Liz Truss, after only a month and a half in office.
However, according to a report in "The Times" of London, the two did not reach an agreement.
Johnson returned yesterday from a vacation in the Caribbean earlier than planned, apparently with the aim of launching his comeback, just two months after he was ousted as prime minister by his conservative party.
Johnson and Sunak have yet to officially announce their engagement.
The only candidate who has announced her candidacy is Penny Mordant, a former minister in Johnson's cabinet.
Currently, Sunak has gained the support of 128 conservative lawmakers, Johnson has the support of 53 lawmakers and Mordant with 23 votes.
Rishi Sunak prepares for victory (Photo: Reuters)
However, according to reports in the BBC and "The Times" citing people close to the former prime minister, Johnson gained more votes and has already passed the 100-vote threshold required to run.
357 Conservative MPs will vote for their candidate tomorrow.
If two candidates are left at the end of the vote, an online vote of party members will be held later in the week.
On the left, calls for immediate general elections are increasing.
General elections in the UK, where the 650 members of parliament are elected to both houses, are held every five years.
The next elections are scheduled to be held in January 2025. The decision to hold early elections depends on the prime minister - this after the conservative party in 2019 enacted a new law that returned the traditional authority to set elections to the prime minister.
If the Prime Minister wants early elections, he must submit a request to the King to dissolve Parliament.
If new elections are announced, election day should be held 25 working days later.
Boris Johnson returned to London from vacation, yesterday (Photo: Reuters)
A Prime Minister in the UK needs the support or confidence of the lawmakers in the lower house, i.e. the majority of MPs.
A general election will be called if the government loses a vote of no confidence from all parties.
On the other hand, the king can summon another politician to form a government - a person who can win a vote of no confidence in the lower house.
For a vote of no confidence to pass, it would need the support of Conservative MPs - an unlikely move because by doing so they would effectively be voting against their own government.
More in Walla!
The finance minister who "atone for the mistakes" or Johnson's comeback: who will be the next British prime minister?
To the full article
On video: British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after only a month and a half (Reuters)
Sunak's bed
As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak led Britain to its heaviest tax burden since the 1950s.
He refused to follow other candidates in the race who promised immediate tax cuts, saying that rising inflation must be curbed first.
He also provided aid packages worth 37 billion pounds ($44.14 billion) to help Britons cope with rising prices. Before resigning from the government, he indicated that he was prepared to continue doing so if necessary.
"I will cut taxes but I intend to do it responsibly, I will not Taxes to win elections, I'll win elections so I can lower taxes," he told BBC radio.
Sonak pledged to make Britain energy independent by 2045, to protect it from supply shocks and disruptions such as those currently being caused by the war in Ukraine. He also promised to ease the ban on land wind farms.
Sunak has promised reforms to the criminal justice system, including tougher sentences for criminals who fail to appear in court, as well as a crackdown on gangs that sexually exploit children.
On the immigration issue, Sunak's spokesperson told The Times that Sunak is proud to come from an immigrant family, but believes Britain should control its borders.
He supports the plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
"We need to forge a new consensus regarding the people who come to our country. Say yes to talented innovators who work hard, but control the borders," he said in a campaign speech.
Sunak voted in 2016 for Britain's exit from the European Union.
Sunak told the Sun newspaper that his first visit as prime minister outside the country would be to Kyiv.
"I will maintain our policy of full support for Ukraine, which was presented by Boris."
He told the Ukrainians that "I will not hesitate to provide you with all the support you will need at this stage of the war where it is not only a matter of resisting the Russians, but of withdrawing them and restoring the country."
Sonak did not say how much he would spend on defense and security needs, but said that spending on NATO constitutes 2% of British GDP, but this is not a "ceiling but a floor".
Sunak or mordant? (Photo: GettyImages)
Who is Penny Mordant?
Penny Mordant was born in 1973.
Her father, a former paratrooper, named her after the ship hms Penelope.
According to her, her "love and pride" in the country was ignited at the age of 9, in Portsmouth, when she watched the ships going to war in the Falklands.
Mordant's mother, a reservist in the British Navy, died when Penny was 15 and her father fell ill a year later.
She looked after her younger brother alone until she was 18. As a philosophy student at the University of Reading, Mordaunt worked as a wizard's assistant.
Mordant was elected Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North in 2010.
Critics claim that Mordant is not fit to serve as prime minister.
She served as defense secretary for just two and a half months in 2019, before Johnson sacked her for supporting his rival, Jeremy Hunt.
She then served as a junior minister for international development.
Co-workers describe her as charming and honest, not particularly interested in the intricacies of policies and laws.
In addition, she has no financial experience, at a time when Britain is facing an acute cost of living crisis.
Mordant voted in the referendum in favor of Brexit.
She played a role in the Leave campaign through her warnings about an onslaught of Turkish immigrants into Britain when Turkey joins the EU.
According to her, Britain cannot prevent such a large influx of immigrants - what will happen if it remains in the Union.
However, the Brexit camp does not trust Mordant because she supported former Prime Minister Theresa May's exit deal, which was fiercely opposed by more staunch Brexiteers.
Furthermore, despite her background in the military and her interest in security, Mordant's views on social issues are more progressive than traditional conservative policies.
She even dared and supported transgender rights, a position that got her into trouble with the more right wing of the party.
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