Who are the main candidates to replace Liz Truss and how is the election process

British Prime Minister, Liz Trusscould not overcome the political chaos of recent weeks and finally resigned today after 44 days of taking office, recognizing that it is “the best decision to keep the United Kingdom in a stable economic condition.”

Downing Street sources admitted to the main local media that the last day of the premiere has been “difficult”, after at least 17 deputies have asked him to resign by the crisis generated as a result of the practically total dismantling of the fiscal program announced by the Executive in September.

LOOK: Liz Truss, the shortest British Prime Minister in the history of the United Kingdom

“I am a fighter, not someone who gives up”Truss said yesterday during the parliamentary session, on a turbulent day in which the Minister of the Interior resigned, Solla Braverman.

BREAKING: Liz Truss resigns after 44 days, making her the shortest PM in history, amid the collapse of her government due to gross economic mismanagement pic.twitter.com/tItlw59fag

— Jack Posobiec ???????? (@JackPosobiec) October 20, 2022

Truss, who has already notified King Carlos III, will remain at the head of the Government until a replacement is chosen. Meanwhile, the battle has already begun.

How is the process to elect the new Tory leader

How long can it take?

British Prime Minister Liz Truss enters 10 Downing Street, central London, on October 20, 2022, following a statement announcing her resignation. (DANIEL LEAL – AFP).

The Tories have already reported that the vote on a new prime minister will be next week. Graham Brady, the Chairman of the Committee, assured that he spoke with the president of the party, Jake Berry, who confirmed that “it will be possible to hold a vote and conclude a leadership election for the Friday October 28. So we should have a new leader before the tax declaration, which will take place on the 31st of this month, he said.

The length of the process to elect a leader can vary, depending on how many people show up. Theresa May became leader less than three weeks after David Cameron resigned in 2016 and all other contenders dropped out midway through the race.

Johnson faced former health minister Jeremy Hunt in the Conservative members’ run-off to replace May in 2019 and took office. two months after May announced her intention to resign.

Talking outside Downing Street, Truss said she would remain in office until a new prime minister is chosen.

Who will be this new Tory leader, and future British Prime Minister? Several names circulate, but still without a clear favorite.

Jeremy Hunt

Former Minister Jeremy Hunt, another possible candidate. (Frank Augstein – AP).

The new Finance Minister, Jeremy Hunt, 55 years old, he now seems to hold the reins of power to repair the mistakes made by the now former prime minister. It was he who announced on Monday the spectacular removal of almost all the fiscal measures of the Truss government, which had caused a panic in the markets.

This charismatic and highly experienced former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Health lost to Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative leadership election, in which he presented himself as the “serious” alternative. In the last hours his name began to sound like a favorite to succeed Truss, but as he recently assured the BBC, after his two failed attempts to become the leader of the party and head of government, he does not want to participate in the race again.

Penny Mourdaunt

Former Secretary of Defense and current Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Penny Mordaunt. (Matt Dunham – AP).

Former Minister of Defense and currently Minister in charge of relations with Parliament, Penny Mordaunt, 49 years old, was one of the figures of the campaign for Brexit in 2016 and has since worked to negotiate trade deals for the UK.

Regarded as a good speaker, it is estimated that could be a unit candidatecapable of obtaining support from different wings of the Conservative Party.

In fact, was the conservative grassroots favorite to succeed Boris Johnsonbut was discarded at the last moment by the deputies.

Mordaunt shone on Monday when he appeared in Parliament to stand in for Truss to respond to the opposition, confidently defending the government’s economic policy shift.

Recently, the hypothesis of a candidacy Mordaunt-Sunak and the conservative newspaper The Times mentioned unconfirmed talks to that effect on Tuesday.

Rishi Sunak

Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak attends a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, London, on May 24, 2022. (Daniel Leal – AFP Pool).

Boris Johnson’s finance minister, Rishi Sunak, he was defeated by Truss in the final phase of the election process for a new Conservative leader in early September, decided by the party’s base, but he was the MPs’ preferred candidate.

Brexit advocate, 42, was appointed finance minister in 2020, a key post in the midst of the pandemic, but has been criticized for doing too little to counter the suffocating cost-of-living crisis.

This billionaire ex-banker, a reassuring figure who defends fiscal orthodoxy, repeatedly warned that unfunded tax cuts would push inflation to its highest level in decades and undermine market confidence.

He had once been the heavy favorite to succeed Johnson, but lost legitimacy following a series of scandals. They revolved around the advantageous tax status of his Indian billionaire wife, which allowed him to avoid paying millions in taxes in the UK, and the US residence permit that Sunak had until last year. Also, many others see it as the traitor whose resignation as minister in July precipitated the downfall of the charismatic and controversial Johnson.

Former Goldman Sachs bank analyst and hedge fund employee, married to the daughter of an Indian tycoon, Sunak, whose grandparents emigrated from northern India to the UK in the 1960s, he amassed a significant personal fortune before becoming a deputy in 2015.

Suella Braverman

The former Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman. (JUSTIN TALLIS – AFP).

the british middle Guardian He reported that Suella Braverman is expected to run for Tory leader.

“It is clear that Suella has a great future in the Conservative Party and is widely recognized as a standard-bearer for authentic traditional Toryism,” said former Minister John Hayes, Braverman’s confidant and adviser.

Braverman, considered to be from the hard wing of the conservative party in power, resigned yesterday from his position as Minister of the Interiordeepening the Truss government crisis that began last month with the announcement of a disastrous economic package.

The head of the Interior alleged as a reason for her resignation having used her personal email account to send an official document to a colleague, an “error” and a “technical infraction” for which he accepted his “responsibility”, but also assured that he was “seriously” concerned about the government’s policies.

Boris Johnson

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. (House Of Commons via PA Wire).

It’s a scenario that has been circulating in the conservative press for months: Like a phoenix, the controversial Johnson would make his return, imposing himself as an obvious choice.

His landslide 2019 election victory gave the Conservatives a majority they had not seen since Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

But the Brexit hero has great obstacles to overcome: his forced resignation in July as a result of a multiplication of scandals, including that of the Downing Street parties against anticovid regulations, is still fresh and attributes some responsibility to him in the current conservative debacle.

Furthermore, it remains to be seen whether Johnson, now 58 on a lucrative speaking career around the world, he would be willing to assume the leadership of the formation again two years before a legislative in which the polls promise a landslide victory for the Labor opposition.

DPA, AFP and Reuters agencies

Source: Elcomercio