Boris Johnson: Braverman drops out of succession race – tone gets rougher

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Great Britain
Succession to Boris Johnson: Braverman out of succession races – the tone is getting rougher

Lost the race to succeed Boris Johnson as Tory leader and PM: Attorney General Suella Braverman.

© Justin Tallis / AFP

07/15/2022, 07:11

2 min reading time

The race to succeed Boris Johnson is heating up. The next applicant, Attorney General Suella Braverman, was eliminated. The tone around the applicants is getting rougher.

There were only five left: Attorney General Suella Braverman dropped out of the race to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The right-wing conservative chief legal officer of the government received the fewest votes in the second vote in the conservative group on Thursday evening in London. Ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Secretary of State for Trade Penny Mordaunt, both considered representatives of the liberal wing, did best again.

The next votes in the group with 358 members are planned for next week. On Wednesday it should then be clear between which two candidates the party members will decide in a runoff. The result – and thus Johnson’s successor as party and government leader – should be known by September 5 at the latest.

Successor to Boris Johnson: Sunak remains favourite

The election was a “strong vote of confidence” for Sunak, his former cabinet colleague Matt Hancock told Sky News. However, the clear leadership of Sunak, who received 101 of the 356 votes cast, does not mean a preliminary decision. It is expected that Braverman’s supporters will now vote for Secretary of State Liz Truss or ex-Secretary of State Kimi Badenoch, who finished third and fourth and are also assigned to the right-wing camp.

The applicants are not too far apart on many topics. Nobody doubts Brexit, and there is consensus on the Johnson government’s controversial plans. All announce – as demanded by the majority of the party – tax cuts.

After notice of withdrawal

The search for the next Johnson: These nine Tories have so far applied for the party leadership


Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt

Former Secretary of State and Health Jeremy Hunt lost the 2019 party leadership race. At the time, he presented himself as the “serious” alternative to Johnson and his clown image.
As chairman of the health committee, Hunt has become one of the government’s harshest critics during the pandemic. He’s known for his faux pas. During a visit, he described Slovenia as a former vassal state of the Soviet Union.
The former businessman, who speaks fluent Japanese, is considered to be particularly resilient but not very charismatic. In China, he wanted to impress with his native wife, but accidentally said she was from Japan.

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Ex-Brexit minister attacks Mordaunt

However, the tone became rougher. Immediately before the vote, former Brexit Minister David Frost denied his former deputy Mordaunt, who is seen as the party’s grassroots favourite, the ability to govern. Frost told Talk TV, “I felt like she didn’t have the details that needed to be negotiated over the last year.” He is considered a supporter of Truss. Other right-wing conservative party members also attacked the state secretary.

An outsider among the remaining candidates is Tom Tugendhat. The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee lost five votes compared to the first round on Wednesday. However, the liberal candidate rejected calls to withdraw from the race.

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