However, the former Minister of Finance Rishi Sunak came out slightly strengthened in terms of the returns of the betting offices.
Thanasis Gavos, London
The first televised match between the five candidates to succeed Boris Johnson in Britain ended without an absolute winner.
However, the former Minister of Finance Rishi Sunak came out slightly strengthened in terms of the returns of the betting offices.
Former Defense Secretary Penny Mordant remains favorite for the Prime Ministership after the Channel 4 debate, albeit with a slightly worse betting performance.
At some bookmakers Mr Sunak has once again overtaken current Secretary of State Liz Truss for second place in the odds.
Besides, an Opinium poll of more than 1,000 voters immediately after the debate showed as the winner the head of the foreign affairs committee of the House Tom Tugenhat with 36% and second Mr. Sunak with 25%.
They are followed with 12% by Ms. Mordot and the Deputy Minister of Local Government, Kemi Beidenock, and the last to impress is Ms. Truss with 6%.
Many of the questions put to the participants in the televised debate focused on how to restore trust in politicians after Boris Johnson’s three-year rule. Asked by the reporter’s moderator if Boris Johnson was being honest, no one answered directly in the affirmative, not even his ally Liz Truss, who said some of the things the outgoing Prime Minister claimed “were not 100% accurate”.
Rishi Sunak commented that dishonesty was one of the reasons he resigned from the government. Penny Mordant replied that “there were serious issues” with the Prime Minister’s honesty, while Cammy Bedenock replied “a few times”. Tom Tugenhut answered in the negative by shaking his head.
The other big issue in the race was tax policy, with four of the five candidates promising to immediately cut certain taxes imposed by Rishi Sunak. The 42-year-old former Finance Minister was the only one to insist that taxes should start falling when inflation is reined in. The conflict over the issue was greater between Mr Sunak and Ms Truss, with the former saying promises of greater financial comfort for citizens with more borrowing are “fairy tales”.
Mr Tugenhat, the only candidate to have voted against any tax increases, revealed that when he had asked then Finance Minister Rishi Sunak why the increase in social security contributions was necessary, he had replied “because the boss wants it”, referring to to Prime Minister Johnson.
The candidates clashed over Penny Mordant’s alleged change of stance on the issue of self-determination of gender identity. Ms Mordaud assured that she had never promoted gender self-identification as a relevant deputy minister beyond the recognition of legal gender reassignment, an assurance most notably contested by Kemi Beidenock. The criticism of Ms Mordant is that she changed her stance late to attract more votes from the right wing of MPs and Conservative Party members.
The remaining questions were about tackling punctuality, reducing waiting times in the NHS and the green economy.
There will be a second televised debate on Sky News on Sunday night, ahead of the third Tory caucus vote on Monday.
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