Today they are voting for the first time on who can fill the vacant Boris Johnson seat within the British Conservative Party. The winner of the eight leading candidates will not only be the head of the ruling party, but also the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. By the start of next week, only two of the candidates are expected to remain in the race.
Incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week that he was leaving the party after a series of internal political scandals in recent months. This also means the end of his position as prime minister, but Johnson has announced that he will continue his duties until his successor is elected.
On Wednesday, Conservative MPs will vote on who should fill the vacant Boris Johnson seat. Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Commission, revealed the list of eight candidates for the position, on Tuesday, after the deadline for awarding grants expired.
The head of the Conservative Party and the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will be chosen from the list. Voting will continue until only two remain in the race, which is expected to be decided by early next week British Sky News reported.
The eight candidates on the list are:
- Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt
- Penny Mordaunt, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, and former Secretary of Defense, the first and so far only head of the British Ministry of Defense,
- Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak
- Secretary of State Liz Truss,
- Tom Tugendhat, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Commons in London.
- Finance Minister Nadim Zahawi.
- Kimi Badenouch, former Minister of State for Equal Opportunities,
- Soila Braverman, Chief Legal Adviser to the British Government.
As previously mentioned, the list originally consisted of 11 people, but since then former Health Minister Sajid Javid, Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps and Deputy Foreign Minister Rehman Christie have announced their withdrawal shortly before the deadline for collecting signatures on Tuesday night.
Eleven candidates are vying for the leadership of the British Conservative Party
Eleven formal candidates have announced that they are vying for the position of leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party. On Monday, the relevant political official from the party’s House of Representatives faction presented the timetable for the leadership election process, which is expected to continue until the fall. More than three-quarters of British voters agree that Boris Johnson has resigned as leader of the Conservative Party.
Boris Johnson promised not to take part in the vote, but his supporters rallied behind the right-wing Secretary of State Liz Truss.
Rishi Sunak’s camp is confident of kicking out stronger candidates like Truss in the first round.
As previously mentioned, the official result of the British Conservative Party leadership election is expected to be announced on September 5.
We know when the UK will have a new Prime Minister
By Monday, eleven candidates have officially announced they are running for Conservative Party leader.
