The initial list of eight candidates to succeed Boris Johnson was reduced this Wednesday to six, after neither the newly appointed finance minister, Nadhim Zahawi, nor the former health minister, Jeremy Hunt, won the minimum number of votes necessary. to continue in the race. The most voted was the former Finance Minister, Rishi Sunak, confirming the favoritism among Conservative MPs, with former Defense Minister Penny Mordaunt, the favorite in the polls among militants, being second. The British prime minister is not expected to leave until September, but he seems to have already said goodbye to Parliament: “I will go with my head held high.”
The race to elect the next Conservative leader continues today, with a new vote among the party’s 358 deputies to reduce the list of candidates to just two – the final decision will be made by the militants, with the results to be known in principle only in September ( unless one of them gives up). In Wednesday’s vote, candidates needed at least 30 votes to continue to keep alive their dream of reaching 10 Downing Street. Hunt, who in 2019 had disputed the lead with Johnson, didn’t go beyond 18 and got in the way, as did Zahawi, who got 25 supports.
Today, they need 40 votes, with prosecutor Suella Braverman only getting 32 and deputy Tom Tugendhat getting 37. Former Secretary of State for Equality, Kemi Badenoch, got 40. can do until voting time).
The three most voted were Sunak (88 votes), Mordaunt (67) and the head of diplomacy, Liz Truss (50), considered the most right wing of the party. As the list dwindles, MPs can start looking at polls. According to one from YouGov, Mordaunt is the favorite against all opponents. The current Secretary of State for Trade Policy would win Truss by 55% to 37% and Sunak by 67% to 28%.
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