See potential candidates to replace Boris Johnson in the UK

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party on Thursday, after a series of scandals and the collective resignation of more than 50 members of the government.

Boris intends to remain in office until the autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, so that the Conservatives have time to elect a new leader to succeed him.

The premier said a timetable would be detailed next week, and the process of choosing a next leader “starts now”.

Below is a summary of some of the top picks to replace him at the top of the UK.

Liz Truss

The foreign minister has long been the darling of the ruling Conservative Party’s rank and file and regularly leads polls of party members conducted by the Conservative Home website.

Truss has a carefully cultivated public image and was photographed in a tank last year, echoing a famous 1986 photo of Britain’s first prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.

The 46-year-old initially campaigned against Brexit but after the referendum said she had changed her mind.

She spent the first two years of Johnson’s administration as foreign minister and was appointed last year as Britain’s top negotiator with the European Union.

Truss is now tasked with dealing with the EU over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, where she has taken an increasingly hard line in the negotiations.

She said Monday that Johnson had “100% support” and urged colleagues to support him.

Jeremy Hunt

The 55-year-old former foreign minister finished second behind Johnson in the 2019 leadership race. He would offer a more serious and less controversial leadership style after Johnson’s turmoil.

Over the past two years, Hunt has used his experience as a former health minister to chair parliament’s health select committee and has not been marked for having served in the current government.

Earlier this year, he said his ambition to become prime minister “has not completely disappeared”. Hunt said he voted to oust Johnson in a confidence vote last month that the prime minister narrowly won.

Hunt supported remaining in the EU ahead of the 2016 vote. It is unclear whether he would feel the need to take a hard line against Brussels to win the support of Conservative voters, or if he could pursue a more pragmatic relationship to improve post-EU trade. Brexit

Ben Wallace

Defense Minister Ben Wallace, 52, has risen in recent months to overtake Truss as the most popular member of government among Conservative Party members, according to Conservative Home, thanks to his handling of the war in Ukraine. .

A former soldier, he was mentioned in dispatches in 1992 for an incident in which the patrol he commanded captured a guerrilla unit of the Irish Republican Army suspected of attempting to carry out a bomb attack on British troops.

He began his political career as a member of Scotland’s decentralized assembly in May 1999, before being first elected to the Westminster parliament in 2005.

He was security minister from 2016 until taking up his current role three years later, earning plaudits when his department pulled British citizens and allies out of Afghanistan last year and for sending weapons to Kiev.

He supported remaining in the European Union before the referendum.

Rishi Sunak

Sunak, who resigned as finance minister on Tuesday saying the British public “rightly expects the government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously”, was until last year the favorite to succeed Johnson. .

He was lauded for a Covid-19 economic rescue package, including an expensive job retention program that averted mass unemployment.

But Sunak later faced criticism for not providing enough support for the families’ living expenses.

Revelations about his wealthy wife’s undomiciled tax status and a fine he received, along with Johnson, for breaking Covid-19 lockdown rules have damaged his position.

His tax and spending budget last year put Britain on track for its heaviest tax burden since the 1950s, undermining its claims to favor lower taxes.

Sunak voted to leave the European Union in 2016.

Sajid Javid

Javid was the first minister to resign in protest of allegations that Johnson misled the public about what he knew about allegations of sexual harassment against a Conservative lawmaker.

A former banker and free-market advocate, Javid has held various cabinet positions, most recently as minister of health. He resigned as Johnson’s finance minister in 2020.

The son of Pakistani Muslim immigrant parents, he is an admirer of Thatcher and finished fourth in the 2019 leadership contest to replace former Prime Minister Theresa May.

Javid supported remaining in the EU “with a heavy heart and without enthusiasm”, saying he feared the consequences of a vote to leave would add to the economic turmoil.

Nadhim Zahawi

The newly appointed finance minister impressed as minister for vaccines when the UK had one of the fastest starts in the world with Covid-19 vaccination campaigns.

Zahawi’s personal history as a former refugee from Iraq who came to Britain as a child sets him apart from other candidates.

He co-founded the research firm YouGov before entering parliament in 2010. His last job was as Minister of Education.

Zahawi said last week that it would be a “privilege” to be prime minister at some point. He supported leaving the EU.

Penny Mordaunt

The former defense minister was fired by Johnson when he became prime minister after she endorsed her rival Hunt during the latest leadership contest.

Mordaunt was a passionate advocate for leaving the European Union and made national headlines by participating in a now-defunct reality TV dive show.

Currently working at the Commerce Department, Mordaunt called government parties that broke lockdown rules “shameful.” She had previously expressed loyalty to Johnson.

Mordaunt campaigned to leave the EU in 2016.

Tom Tugendhat

The chairman of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and a former soldier who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan has already indicated he would run for any leadership contest.

He has been a regular critic of Johnson and would offer his party a break from previous administrations.

However, it is relatively untested because it has never served in the cabinet.

He voted to remain in the EU.

Suella Braverman

Brexit-supporting attorney general Braverman said she plans to run for leadership.

She was heavily criticized by lawyers during her tenure after the government tried to violate international law on post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland.

She campaigned to leave the EU and served in the Brexit department in May, but resigned in protest at the then prime minister’s proposed Brexit deal, saying it did not go far enough to sever ties with the bloc.