HENRY NICHOLLS
So, who will exchange Boris Johnson when the keys to 10 Downing Avenue are lastly prised from his chilly, deadened fingers? There’ll be no scarcity of candidates, together with a number of no-hopers both deluded as to their very own private brilliance or simply eager to have “former management contender” on their résumés. And in comparison with latest contests it’s wide-open, with no clear favourite and a drawn-out course of to navigate. Candidates, who should come from the parliamentary occasion, will likely be whittled down in a collection of ballots of all 358 Conservative lawmakers earlier than the ultimate two combat it out for the assist of rank-and-file members. The winner would be the one who wins the assist of each these constituencies.
PETER NICHOLLS
Dominic Raab, 48. As Brexit Secretary again in 2018, Raab was extensively mocked after admitting he hadn’t realized, duh, fairly how a lot Britain relied on the Dover-Calais route for commerce with the continent. He then resigned in protest at his personal Brexit deal. However that didn’t maintain him again: He served first as International Secretary beneath Johnson and is now Deputy Prime Minister. That makes him favourite to take over as caretaker PM whereas the Tories elect a brand new chief—though rivals might not let that occur if he's a management candidate, which could hand Johnson a pair extra months in Downing Avenue.
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Rishi Sunak, 42. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer—the minister in control of the nation’s funds—who helped set off Johnson’s departure along with his resignation on Tuesday. Born to Indian immigrant mother and father, Sunak was educated at Winchester public faculty, Oxford, and Stanford: about as posh because it will get. Suave, urbane and super-confident, he was appointed Chancellor in early 2020 simply as COVID hit and gained reward for shielding British staff and firms in the course of the pandemic. However his popularity amongst occasion members took successful with the revelation his spouse—the daughter of an Indian billionaire—claimed particular “non-dom” standing to keep away from U.Ok. tax on her appreciable abroad earnings.
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Penny Mordaunt, 49. Socially liberal Brexiteer with a populist streak who briefly discovered herself put in because the bookmakers’ favourite to exchange Johnson after Sunak’s resignation. A Naval reservist, she’s very talked-about with grassroots occasion members, however insiders query whether or not she will be able to get sufficient assist from Members of Parliament (MPs) to succeed in the ultimate two within the contest. She was by no means a fan of Johnson however served beneath him as a commerce minister. Curiously, she has not but bought round to resigning.
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Liz Truss, 46. Since being appointed International Secretary in a reshuffle final September, Truss has carried out all the pieces she may to set herself up as a management contender, even donning a bulletproof vest and leaping right into a tank, Margaret Thatcher-style, on a go to to Estonia. In style with the grassroots; much less so with MPs.
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Ben Wallace, 52. Additionally seen in army garb, though as a former soldier who's now Defence Secretary he’s bought extra justification. Wallace, who has labored carefully with Johnson to funnel British anti-tank missiles and different weaponry to Ukraine, has repeatedly come high in surveys of the Tory occasion membership, however it’s not clear what he stands for, politically. He's in all probability already within the job he was made for.
JESSICA TAYLOR
Sajid Javid, 52. The son of a Pakistani bus driver, Javid has held a number of high Cupboard jobs. He's additionally the one management contender to have resigned twice in protest at Johnson’s management. Javid give up as Chancellor in 2020 after refusing Downing Avenue’s calls for to sack his advisers after which give up once more as Well being Secretary on Tuesday in a double resignation with Sunak. “Treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has grow to be inconceivable in latest months, and I'll by no means danger shedding my integrity,” he informed MPs in a resignation speech on Wednesday seen because the unofficial launch of his management marketing campaign. In style each with MPs and occasion members.
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Nadim Zahawi, 55. One other contender upending preconceptions of the “pale, stale” Tory occasion. Zahawi arrived within the U.Ok. as a baby, an Iraqi Kurd refugee unable to talk English. Co-founder of the main British polling agency YouGov (which ranked him ninth in a crowded discipline in a survey of grassroots Tories on Thursday) Zahawi has held a collection of ministerial jobs, together with overseeing the U.Ok.’s profitable COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Appointed Chancellor on Tuesday night time after Sunak’s resignation, he spent Wednesday promising billions of kilos value of tax cuts earlier than demanding Johnson’s resignation. The Instances of London reported Thursday that Zahawi had been quietly engaged on his management marketing campaign for a number of months, helped by Australian “election guru” Lynton Crosby.
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Jeremy Hunt, 55. Hunt spent six years as Well being Secretary beneath PM David Cameron earlier than changing Johnson as International Secretary. He got here second to Johnson within the 2019 contest to exchange Theresa Might after which refused to serve in his Cupboard. Since then he has been on the backbenches, fastidiously preserving his powder dry. As one of the vital skilled ministers and managers within the occasion, he's a contender; however some would possibly marvel if his ship has not sailed.
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Steve Baker, 51. Prime Brexiteer identified extra as a trouble-maker and backroom plotter than main man. However Baker, former head of the European Analysis Group of Tory MPs (it ought to have been known as the Anti-European Analysis Group), says he has been “implored” to run by his supporters. Laborious to see a path to victory for him.
HANNAH MCKAY
Suella Braverman, 42. Having served, not with any nice success, as Johnson’s Lawyer Basic, Braverman was among the many first to throw her hat into the ring to succeed him—prompting mockery from the opposition Labour Social gathering. “Can I say what an honour it's to face at this dispatch field going through the following Prime Minister as she waits a name from the Palace,” intoned Shadow Lawyer Basic Emily Thornberry, to laughs from the Commons chamber.