Sunak (42), whose resignation as Treasury Secretary last week helped accelerate Johnson’s downfall, gained the support of 88 of the party’s 358 MPs, with junior Commerce Secretary Penny Mordaunt (49) second with 67 votes. and Secretary of State Liz Truss (46) third with 50.
Nadhim Zahawi, who took over from Sunak’s finance minister last week, and former foreign minister Jeremy Hunt were eliminated after failing to secure the required minimum of 30 votes. They join three other contenders who dropped out the day before.
Those who remain — including former Equality Minister Kemi Badenoch, Attorney General Suella Braverman, Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee — will advance to a second round on Thursday.
Subsequent votes will be held under Conservative lawmakers, eliminating the candidate with the fewest votes each time, to bring the field down to a final two by July 21. The new leader will then be chosen from among those two by the country’s 200,000 members of the conservative party at large, and will be announced on September 5.
While Sunak is arguably the most popular contender among his peers, a YouGov poll of nearly 900 party members found that Mordaunt was the favorite, beating one of the others in a runoff election. She had a huge lead over Sunak, who performed poorly against almost all of his rivals, and is now the bookmakers’ favourite.
SMOOTH OF PROBLEMS
Whoever wins will face a daunting in-tray as he must restore public confidence bruised by a string of scandals involving Johnson, from violating the Covid-19 lockdown rules to appointing a legislator in government despite being made aware of allegations of sexual misconduct.
The UK economy is facing skyrocketing inflation, high debt and low growth, leaving people grappling with the worst strain on their finances in decades. All this is set against the background of an energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which has caused fuel prices to rise.
As the battle heats up, it’s also intensified, as rival camps trade barbs and some offer a range of glaring pledges for tax cuts.
Sunak said it was not credible to offer more spending and lower taxes, saying he was offering honesty “no fairy tales”.
Zahawi said he was befuddled with his personal finances, while Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who was deeply loyal to Johnson and now supports Truss, accused Sunak’s team of “dirty tricks” as part of a “Stop Liz” strategy.
“I believe that his behavior (Sunak) towards Boris Johnson, his disloyalty means that I cannot possibly support him,” Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg told Sky News on Wednesday.
Johnson, who won a large majority in December 2019, announced last week that he would resign after a flurry of ministerial resignations and many Conservative Party lawmakers openly revolted.
His future successors have emphasized that instead they would offer integrity and trustworthiness, but are faced with questions of their own, such as why they supported Johnson for so long. Sunak – like Johnson – was fined for violating the lockdown rules.
Political opponents say the candidates focused only on winning the support of the ruling party’s right wing by talking about tax cuts and additional defense spending, without addressing the cost of living facing the public.
Polls also show that, although the Conservatives are arguing among themselves, they are significantly behind the main opposition Labor party, although no elections are scheduled in the coming years.
“I am your best shot at winning that election. I am the candidate that Labor fears,” Mordaunt said when she officially launched her campaign on Wednesday.
People really wanted “the good old stuff” of low taxes, small state and personal responsibility, she added.
Amid the promises, Andy King, a board member of the Office for Budget Responsibility, which independently oversees public finances, told a parliamentary committee that taxes would need to rise or cut spending to maintain fiscal sustainability.
The government has also said it will hold a confidence vote itself – which it will almost certainly win – on Monday after blocking an attempt by the opposition Labor party.