Johnson, determined to resist in government until the Tories designate his successor

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Broad sections of the party are urging him to speed up his departure and are proposing a transitional cabinet headed by an acting prime minister.

Three Conservative MPs are already in the running to succeed Boris Johnson as leader and prime minister, who had admitted defeat the day before but remains in office and official residence in Downing Street. Former Economics Secretary Rishi Sunak, who directly contributed to the fall of the still head of the British government, presented his candidacy with a speech promising to “restore confidence, rebuild the economy and to reunite the country”.

Sunak was another favorite candidate for a video with a personal tone and a high level of production. 42 years old and with a colossal economic fortune, he presents himself as the grandson of emigrants who gave him ‘opportunities they could only dream of’. He recalls heading the Treasury Department during the difficult years of the pandemic and warns that the country “is facing colossal challenges”. “The decisions we make today will decide whether the next generation of Britons will also have a chance to build a better future for themselves,” he says, looking into the camera.

Sunak resigned minutes on Tuesday after the withdrawal from the cabinet of then health minister Sajid Javid, who has not yet confirmed his candidacy. Both escapes, apparently coordinated, marked the beginning of the political end for Johnson, who two days later threw in the towel and admitted he had lost the confidence of the majority of his parliamentary group. During the day, the still-President appointed ministerial and minor positions, filling nearly the entire team of his new Executive. He started training it before relinquishing the Tory leadership as a strong sign of his determination to keep the helm for a few more months.

He reaffirmed his wish to continue in Downing Street until a successor is elected in these primaries, the rules of which remain unclear. The 1922 committee, made up of deputies without a government position, is preparing to vote next Monday on the new directive that will clarify the regulation and the calendar of the process. The formula passed in 2019 that led to Johnson’s victory required the support of at least ten deputies per candidacy, in an effort to discourage those who really have no chance of winning. That threshold could be raised this time to speed up the procedure and ensure a swift resolution of the power vacuum and party split amid the economic crisis and the war in Ukraine.

Sunak is addressing his message to the general public, although the context count is initially limited to the “Tory” deputies and affiliates in the final resolution. The parliamentarians vote the necessary rounds until the candidatures are reduced to two finalists. The next leader and prime minister must therefore be determined by letter from the more than 100,000 members of the Conservative Party. There are exceptions to the norm. In the election of Theresa May, after the Brexit referendum, the members did not vote because of the unexpected withdrawal of their opponent.

Former soldier and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendham, also threw in his trick, promising “new beginnings”. “It’s time to innovate,” he wrote in The Daily Telegraph. A 49-year-old critic of the Prime Minister, he says he has a “broad coalition of colleagues who will bring new energy and ideas to run the entire UK.” Bridging the gap created by the withdrawal of the European Union is one of the priorities he would set if given the chance to lead the country.

Suella Braverman is the most surprising first candidate. Attorney General of the Johnson administration announced her interest in running for the primaries while commenting on political news on a television program. Braverman seeks support and votes from the most reactionary and ultra-Eurosceptic factions in Westminster. His ideology is to abolish the influence of foreign courts in the UK, including Strasbourg, which oversees fundamental human rights.

The controversial National Rights Act, presented recently, is set to continue its legislative course under a lawyer-led government. The same fate would befall the controversial Northern Ireland legislative proposal, which in its current wording gives ministers the power to withdraw parts of the special operational protocol in the region and have it included in the Brexit deal. It is a unilateral action, probably illegal, that has been denounced by the EU and several national and international organizations and experts.

Several heavyweights of the ‘tory’ family have yet to be named. Among them is the Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace who is leading the way in voting intentions in polls of a number of entities. In second place, according to YouGov, is Penny Mordaunt, a Royal Navy reservist with ministerial experience. Among the pack are Foreign Minister Liz Truss and the new head of the economy, Nadhim Zahawi, whose participation is taken for granted.

It is also possible that another veteran of British politics, Jeremy Hunt, will join the game, which would bring together the moderate and pro-European voices of the conservative blocs. Sajid Javid, who resigned from the Health portfolio and stood up to Johnson in a devastating speech in the House of Commons, would compete for similar support among centrist MPs. But it might attract a larger proportion of members, who are generally anti-European and more radical than the majority of the parliamentary collective.

Sectors of the party are still fighting to prevent Johnson from continuing to lead until the succession is consumed. They propose forming a transition executive, led by an acting prime minister, who would reduce the pressure and urgency in resolving the selection process. And they are proposing Justice Minister Dominic Raab as the candidate, who filled that role in Johnson’s absence and when the Prime Minister was admitted to a hospital suffering from Covid.

For his part, Johnson is trying to calm the tension and has informed his new cabinet that no decisions will be made that “tie the hands” to his replacement. Still, Downing Street spokesmen assure that the controversial bills or the plan to deport refugees to Rwanda will be processed through routine channels. Parliament adjourned on 21 July and resumed the course on 5 September. The identity of the next prime minister should be known before or on the eve of the party congress in the first week of October.

Source: La Verdad

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