Any Tories who want to become Britain’s prime minister and have enough supporters around them can register until the afternoon. So far, only ex-Finance Minister Sunak, who can count on the support of the Johnson camp, has clearly reached the quorum. But outsider Mordaunt does not give up.
After Boris Johnson withdrew from the race for the post of British Prime Minister, several of his prominent supporters have switched to the camp of the favorite Rishi Sunak. Secretary of State James Cleverly wrote on Twitter that Sunak had the most experience and could count on his support.
On Sunday evening, ex-minister Nadhim Zahawi, who advertised the “Boris 2.0” era in a guest post the same morning, wrote on Twitter: “A day is a long time in politics. After today’s news, we should look at Rishi Turn to Sunak as our next prime minister.”
According to Sky News, MPs Maria Caulfield and Jonathan Gullis also switched from the Johnson camp to the Sunak camp. According to the British media, around 160 Conservative MPs have now publicly spoken out in favor of the 42-year-old. Home Secretary Grant Shapps, who is also one of Sunak’s supporters, stressed in the Sky News interview that while Sunak was relaxed, he did not believe that victory was “in the bag”.
With Boris Johnson out of the running, Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs Penny Mordaunt is the only other candidate left. She only has around 25 public supporters, but does not want to give up just yet.
The BBC, citing sources from Mordaunt’s campaign team, reported the 49-year-old will definitely run in a grassroots runoff if she gets the necessary support from 100 Tory MPs. This threshold is “within reach,” the team said.
Candidates can enter the race until Monday afternoon (3 p.m. CEST). However, only those who can claim the backing of 100 MPs from the Tory group have a chance of succeeding the outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Should Mordaunt actually manage to do this, the faction would first vote between the two candidates. If both finalists want to remain in the race after that, the party base would have the floor in a short-term online vote. The new prime minister should be announced by Friday at the latest.
