Conservative lawmakers will vote to narrow the field of eight candidates in hopes of succeeding Boris Johnson as party leader and prime minister, while rival camps trade barbs in an increasingly fierce competition.
Three of the 11 initial challengers to the premiership dropped out on Tuesday after failing to get enough support from their peers, but the competition remains tense.
Former finance minister Rishi Sunak is the bookmakers’ favourite, with his successor Nadhim Zahawi and foreign minister Liz Truss among the remaining candidates.
Lesser-known figures such as former Equal Opportunities Minister Kemi Badenoch and junior Commerce Secretary Penny Mordaunt have garnered notable support from other senior lawmakers and are popular with the party’s members, who will ultimately determine the winner.
On Wednesday, the remaining candidates will each need to win 30 votes from the party’s 358 MPs to advance to the next round of voting, while the candidate with the fewest backers is eliminated anyway.
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 of this is set against the backdrop of an energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which has pushed fuel prices up.
As the battle heats up, some candidates have made a series of high profile pledges to cut taxes, with their supporters turning against their rivals.
Sunak said it was not credible to offer more spending and lower taxes, saying he was offering honesty “no fairy tales”.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who was fiercely loyal to Johnson and now backs Truss, has accused Sunak’s team of “dirty tricks/a stitch up/dark arts” as part of a “Stop Liz” strategy.
Johnson announced last week that he would resign after a flurry of ministerial resignations and open revolt from many Conservative Party lawmakers.
His future successors have emphasized how instead they would provide integrity and trustworthiness, but are faced with questions of their own, such as why they supported Johnson for so long when Sunak, like Johnson, was fined for violating 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 not addressing the cost of living facing the public.