Britain: Johnson’s succession battle heats up

In the race to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, tensions continued to escalate over the weekend. Penny Mordaunt, the trade secretary, who is popular with the Tory base, has increasingly found herself in the crossfire of her opponents.

Criticism against her included accusations that she had gone too far in responding to the demands of transgender rights activists. Mordaunt spoke of a smear campaign.

In addition to Mordaud, four other candidates are currently vying for the top office. The field of candidates will be further reduced from five to two in various rounds of Tory caucus voting until next Wednesday.

In each round, the last candidate will be eliminated. Party members will then have their say. Former finance minister Rishi Sunak is largely set for the final round. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has received the second most votes so far.

But Mordaunt and hitherto largely unknown MP Kemi Badenoch are also seen as having a chance.

The candidacy of Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, is seen as less promising – although he is seen as the most suitable candidate for the upcoming general election.

So far, the main topics have been tax cuts, dealing with illegal immigrants and standing in the transgender rights debate. Opposition politicians have warned of a bidding war for right-wing conservative positions.

The issue of climate change has played almost no role so far. The president of the UN COP26 World Climate Summit held last year in Glasgow, Scotland, Alok Sharma, did not want to rule out his resignation if the future head of government proves weak in pursuing climate goals.