The leadership election was necessary because incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation from the leadership of the Conservative Party last week after a series of domestic political scandals in recent months.
This also means the end of his position as Prime Minister, but Johnson announced at the same time he announced his resignation that he would continue in his duties until the election of his successor – that is, until the beginning of September. The new leader of the Conservative Party will be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Eight candidates were nominated for this position. The Conservative faction in the House of Commons began the series of voting on candidates on Wednesday. In the first round, according to the rules, votes of at least thirty faction members had to be obtained in order to advance.
Former Health Minister Jeremy Hunt and Finance Minister Nadim Zahawi failed to do so, so they were already disqualified from competing in the first round. In subsequent rounds, the candidate with the fewest votes from the conservative faction members is disqualified.
Sir Graham Brady, head of the highly influential policy group in the House of Commons responsible for organizing the Conservative Party leadership election, announced on Thursday afternoon that Suella Braverman had received the fewest votes of the six remaining candidates in the race for the second round of voting, so she could no longer Participate in other next week’s rounds. According to Brady, the government’s chief adviser received 27 of the 356 valid party votes.
Since February 2020, Braverman has served as Chief Legal Adviser to the Government, and in that capacity, based on the centuries-old Anglo-British monarchy agreement, he is also the chief legal advisor to the Crown – that is, the ruler and the royal house. Suella Braverman belongs to an extreme line of skepticism toward European institutions within the Conservative Party, and her platform included, among other things, that Great Britain should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.
In the second round of voting, former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak led the field again with 101 votes, followed by Benny Mordaunt with 83 votes.
Thanks for your continuous support. I am willing to give everything I have in the service of our nation. Together we can restore confidence, rebuild our economy, and reunite the country. https://t.co/3cXn1rnFNA
– Ready for) July 14, 2022
Mordaunt is a dark horse, and he had more supporters than the previous round. About his personality and the possibility of his departure in our June analysis we wrote.
Secretary of State Liz Truss came in third with 64 votes from the factions. Former Secretary of State for Equal Opportunities Kimi Badenouche received 49 votes, and Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Commons in London, received 32 votes.
Although some believe that Tugendhat, who lost his supporters between the two ballots, should step down, there are other remaining candidates who will appreciate his support, Tugendhat He said: Still quarrel.
Members of the conservative faction continue the voting streak until the last two candidates remain in the race. The next round will take place on Monday.
Of the last two candidates, nearly 160,000 registered Conservative Party members will elect the party’s next leader by postal or electronic vote.
The result of this will be announced on September 5th.
Cover image source: Getty Images
