According to the provisions of the Conservative Party statute, any member of parliament can be a candidate, provided that he has the declared support of eight of his colleagues, who will nominate him.
Through a fairly complicated process the British Conservative Party is called upon to elect its next leader – and the country’s prime minister – after today’s resignation of Boris Johnson, who in the past few days has seen his top executives resign under suffocating pressure.
According to the provisions of its statute Conservative Party candidate he can be any member of parliament provided he has the declared support of eight of his colleagues, who will nominate him.
Then there is a secret vote between the MPs. Any candidate who gets less than 18 votes is disqualified.
The remaining candidates go to the second round, where 36 votes of their colleagues are required. If everyone collects 36 votes then the one with the fewest votes is eliminated.
The process continues until there are two “fighters” left who claim the leadership of the party, and in this case the prime ministership.
The final phase of voting between the two has a wider electorate, all members of the Conservative Party.
It is too early to say with certainty who is the favorite to replace Boris Johnson as the Conservative leader, and that is because there are many names that are rumored to be interested in the Tory leadership.
Among them stand out:
Sajid Javid
Former Minister of Health. He was the first to resign from the cabinet on Tuesday and the one who essentially triggered the developments.
Sanjid Javid, 53, is a former banker and advocate of free markets. He has served in several ministries. Among them in Finance where he resigned in 2020. He is the son of Muslim immigrants from Pakistan. He declares himself a fan of Margaret Thatcher and in the 2019 internal party elections for the selection of a new leader of the Conservatives he came fourth.
Ben Wallace
Defense Minister, 52 years old. In recent months he has emerged as the most popular member of the government because of his handling of the war in Ukraine. In a recent YouGov poll, conducted among members of the Conservative party, he was voted as the most suitable replacement for Boris Johnson. He is an ex-serviceman and began his political career as a member of the local Scottish Parliament in May 1999. In 2005 he was first elected to the British Parliament.
Liz Traz
Secretary of State, from September 2021. Liz Trazz, 46, is considered a favorite among Conservative party members and often tops the polls. These days he was in Indonesia on a business trip and hastily returned to London due to political developments.
According to those who follow her closely, she takes care of her public image very carefully. It is characteristic that last year long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he was photographed on top of a tank at the British base in Estonia. Her office argued that this was a message to Vladimir Putin that Britain would do all it could to protect Ukraine. But the bad tongues said that he wanted to copy Margaret Thatcher, as many said that the snapshot referred to the historic photo of 1986, when the then Prime Minister of Britain had visited a British base in West Germany.
He has defended Brexit and was even last year appointed head of the continuation of negotiations with the European Union. Earlier this week she was one of the few ministers in Johnson’s government to say she still supported him, urging her colleagues to do the same.
Jeremy Hunt
Former Foreign Minister, 55 years old. He came second to Boris Johnson in the last Conservative leadership election. Analysts point out that he has a more serious and less controversial profile in the country’s political life and could therefore contribute to normalizing the situation after the “storm” caused by Boris Johnson. As he has been out of government for a long time he is considered to have far less “political wear and tear” than other contenders for the Conservative leadership. He has made no secret of his ambition to become prime minister.
Nadeem Zahawi
Minister of Finance. Dadim Zahawi, 55, made headlines as the vaccine minister, as he managed to implement one of the world’s fastest vaccination programs against the coronavirus. He is a refugee from Iraq who came and settled in Britain at a very young age. His grandfather was Iraq’s central banker, but in the 1970s he was forced out of the country by Saddam Hussein’s regime. He is the co-founder of the polling company YouGov. He was elected to parliament for the first time in 2010.
Rishi Sunak
A former finance minister, he resigned on Tuesday. Rishi Sunak, 42, stood out for his economic policies during the pandemic, including implementing a costly job preservation program that averted mass unemployment. But he has received strong criticism both for his rich wife’s tax regime and for violating the strict rules of quarantine, he was even fined like Boris Johnson. Finally, he has been accused of not doing what he could to help the rapid increase in the cost of living that has plagued Britain in recent months.
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