With a final vote on Wednesday, the Tory faction determined the two finalists in the race to succeed Boris Johnson. Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Minister Liz Truss are up against each other in the runoff. The party members now decide between them by postal vote. The result, who will lead the party in the future and succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, is to be announced on September 5th.
As in all previous votes, Sunak received the most support with 138 votes. It was expected that he would enter the runoff. His competitor Truss prevailed with 113 votes against Secretary of Commerce Penny Mordaunt, who had previously been ahead but this time only got 105 votes. Truss, who aligns herself with the right-wing camp of her party, is likely to have received numerous votes from those MPs who last voted for MP Kemi Badenoch, who is also assigned to the right-wing party.
According to a poll of Tory MPs by the polling institute Yougov, Liz Truss’ chances of becoming the new British prime minister are good with her entry into the final round. Accordingly, Sunak should lose in the final vote. The 42-year-old, who also appeals to the center of the party, is controversial internally. Above all, the right-wing conservative wing around Truss accuses Sunak of being responsible for the largest tax increases in recent decades. The incumbent Prime Minister Johnson is also considered an opponent: those around him have accused the former Chancellor of the Exchequer of having betrayed the head of government by instigating Johnson’s downfall with his resignation. Sunak rejects this.
Johnson resigned from his position as party leader almost two weeks ago after the pressure on him in the British government crisis had increased. After a series of scandals, he was recently accused of lying to the public. He falsely stated that he was unaware of allegations of sexual harassment against MP Chris Pincher, whom he had promoted to a senior government position. Johnson announced when he stepped down from the party leadership that he wanted to remain prime minister until a successor was found.