A voting marathon is pending for the Conservative Party: the successor to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being sought. The tone in parliament is becoming much rougher – and some are said to be fighting with unfair means.
The tone in the race to succeed outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has grown sharper. The target of verbal attacks was ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, who was considered the favourite. In a first round of voting in the afternoon, the eight candidates faced the vote of the 358 Tory MPs. Only those who receive more than 30 votes advance to the next round. A result is expected at 6 p.m. (CEST).
Voting in the Conservative faction is expected to continue in the coming days until only two candidates remain. These should then face a runoff election of the party members over the summer. A Johnson successor is to be chosen on September 5th.
Culture Minister Nadine Dorries accused Sunak’s team of “dirty tricks” to gain an advantage. Sunak supporters have lent ex-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt votes to push an easy-to-beat candidate through to the finals, the allegation has been made. Brexit Secretary of State Jacob Rees-Mogg also attacked Sunak. Rees-Mogg told Sky News that the former Treasury Secretary had pushed through “economically damaging” tax increases. He had previously even compared Sunak’s tax policy to socialism, a swear word used by British Conservatives.
Both Dorries and Rees-Mogg are considered staunch Johnson supporters. Both spoke out in favor of Secretary of State Liz Truss as his successor. Sunak is accused of stabbing Johnson in the back when he was Treasury Secretary. The media speculated that Johnson loyalists were therefore working to bring down the previous favorite. Also in the running are Secretary of Commerce Penny Mordaunt, General Counsel Suella Braverman, Treasury Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Tugendhat and MP Kemi Badenoch. Mordaunt is considered the darling of the party base. As a poll by the polling institute Yougov suggested on Wednesday, she is likely to prevail in a runoff among party members if she does not drop out of the race before then.
Johnson, meanwhile, was defiant at Wednesday’s weekly Question Time. “It’s true that I’m not leaving at the time of my election,” Johnson said. But he was proud of the teamwork and leadership of his tenure, adding: “I’ll be leaving with my head held high soon.” Hopes that his departure would herald the end of Brexit were misplaced, the prime minister continued.
At the beginning of the session, briefly chaotic scenes played out. Two MPs from Scotland’s Alba Party loudly called for an independence referendum for their part of the country without being given the floor. Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was visibly upset and shouted “Order!” and “Shut up or get out!”, before he dismissed the two MEPs from the plenary hall and had them led out.
As the government announced after Question Time, a vote of no confidence is to be held in Parliament after all. However, it is meant to refer to confidence in the government as a whole and not just in Johnson. The government had previously blocked a planned motion by the Labor opposition for a vote of no confidence in Johnson. Johnson wants to remain in office until a successor is elected in September. Labor wanted to force him to leave office immediately with the motion. However, it is questionable whether a majority would have been found for this. Johnson resigned as party leader last week under massive pressure from his parliamentary group and cabinet. The Prime Minister had previously lined up scandal after scandal.
