Nine Conservative MPs in the United Kingdom on Sunday launched their campaign to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and many of them seek to differ from former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on tax matters.
Secretary of State for International Trade Penny Mordaunt, 49, was the latest to announce her candidacy on Sunday morning. Mordaunt, a former Marine, became the first woman to serve as secretary of defense in 2019.
The candidates’ stated desire appears to be to get out of the endless string of scandals that have plagued Boris Johnson until he is left with no choice but to resign on Thursday after a flood of quit announcements in his government. This rivalry for the leadership of the Conservative Party, and therefore for the leadership of the next government, heralds a hot summer that will bring many disputes and quarrels.
Former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid announced their candidacies on Saturday evening in op-eds in the conservative Sunday Telegraph. Both focused on tax cut projects, a departure from the line of Rishi Sunak, who wants to wait for fiscal consolidation before considering a similar project in the UK, which has been facing unprecedented inflation for 40 years.
“Without tax cuts, we will not see growth,” Javid told the BBC on Sunday. Javid announced his resignation on Tuesday, beginning a series of resignations of nearly sixty people in the final blow to Boris Johnson. Nine minutes later, Sajid Javid, 52, was accompanied by Finance Minister Rishi Sunak. But he stressed that they did not agree on this step.
Wallace declines nomination
Rishi Sunak is very popular due to various economic support measures that were rolled out at the height of the pandemic, but were weakened for a while by revelations that his wealthy wife had resorted to a tax system that favored her. However, it seems that he managed to return, as he enjoys the support of many deputies. However, Sunak risks incurring the wrath of Johnson’s supporters, who are suspected of treason, as he apparently did not notify the prime minister before leaving the government.
Another strong candidate is Nadeem Al-Zahavi, who ran the UK’s Covid vaccination program when he was minister of state and moved from the education ministry to the finance ministry last week. And his campaign got off to a rocky start with newspaper reports of a tax investigation against him. However, he confirmed that all of his financial interests were properly declared.
Other contenders whose chances of success seem much lower are Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat, as well as Attorney General Suila Braverman and former Secretary of State for Equality Kimi Badnock. The party is still waiting for Secretary of State Liz to enter the race, and her Defense Department colleague Ben Wallace announced on Saturday that he would not run.
In total, the party authorities expect about fifteen nominations. The head of the 1922 committee, which is in charge of the internal organization of the party, told the BBC on Sunday that he was “confident” that the names of the two finalists would be known by 20 July. Despite the tight schedule, the goal is for a final vote, open only to members of the Conservative Party, to result in a winner being named by early September.