In seven weeks, one of them will become British Prime Minister: ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Minister Liz Truss qualified for the final duel in the Downing Street race to succeed Boris on Wednesday Johnson.
Selected by the party’s deputies after a series of five votes, the two competitors will be decided by the 200,000 members of the conservative party, after a postal vote whose result is expected on September 5.
Johnson swept away by scandals
Rishi Sunak obtained 137 votes from Conservative MPs on Wednesday, ahead of Liz Truss (113 votes) and Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Penny Mordaunt, eliminated with 105 votes, according to the results announced by Graham Brady, head of the organization of the poll. internal.
After the resignation on July 7 of Boris Johnson, swept away by scandals, it is now certain that the British government will be led either for the first time by a non-white man, or for the third time by a woman.
Very open race
Rishi Sunak, 42, whose departure from government in early July helped precipitate Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s downfall, has been in the lead since the first vote.
However, the competition, very open, is far from being won for the one who seems less popular with the base of the party than with the deputies. According to a YouGov poll published on Tuesday, the ex-finance minister would be largely beaten in the final regardless of his opponent.
Conversely, Liz Truss, 46, was deemed unconvincing last week but managed to close the gap. She also seems best placed to recover the voices of Kemi Badenoch, who, like her, represents the right wing of the Tories.
Sunak has been accused by MP David Davis of seeking to “reallocate” some of his votes to Liz Truss in order to eliminate Penny Mordaunt, whom he considers harder to beat. “It’s the dirtiest campaign I’ve ever seen,” Davis told LBC radio.
Integrity at the heart of the campaign
The crisis of confidence and questions of integrity have marked the campaign, with the candidates all saying they want to turn – at least in form – the page of the Johnson era marred by scandals.
The candidates also debated widely on how they intended to tackle the cost of living crisis that is strangling British households, as inflation accelerated further in June, to 9.4% year on year.
A debate between the two finalists will be held next Monday on the BBC, announced the public audiovisual group. It will take place live from Stoke-on-Trent, a city in central England which voted more than 69% for Brexit in the 2016 referendum, in front of an audience of 80 to 100 people.