After Boris Johnson resigned as the party leader, the first round of Conservative party elections began on Wednesday. The elections will be held in three rounds which will narrow down it to two final candidates and end with the final results on September 5.
In the wake of Boris Johnson’s resignation as the leader of the Tories- and as the PM, the Conservatives are now scrambling for a new leader. The party elections for the new Tory leader are underway as the first round of elections has already begun. So far, the race has been cutthroat as there are now remaining eight candidates for the position. With Rishi Sunak leading the race and home secretary and Priti Patel quitting it, the stakes have never been higher.
The party elections
The party elections will be held in two rounds, beginning with the first round on Wednesday. The winner will most likely emerge in September after the summer break.
The 1922 Committee, which consists of influential backbench ministers, has laid down new rules for the party elections. According to the rules, a candidate needs the backing of 20 MPs as opposed to eight. Furthermore, the candidates will need at least 30 votes to move into the next round.
Effectively reducing the number of candidates, the initial round will lessen the number of candidates. Two more rounds of voting are scheduled (depending upon the remaining candidates) with the final round concluding on July 20.
The Tory lawmakers will narrow it down to two candidates before the summer break.
Leading contenders
The party members will face quite a predicament in choosing their new leader as the competition is very fierce. Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor is leading the race with nearly 45 MPs backing him already. Penny Mordaunt is second with the backing of 25 MPs and Liz Truss is in the third position with 21 MPs behind her.
Other candidates include Tom Tugendhat, Nadim Zahawi, Kemi Badenoch, Jeremy Hunt and Suella Braverman.
Since Tuesday, four candidates have already dropped out of the race. Rehman Chishti, Priti Patel, Sajid Javid and Grant Shapps all quit before the first ballot.
The process will have two more rounds of voting, even more, if required before moving to the final stage. The race will get even tougher when the 358 Tory lawmakers will narrow it to the final two candidates. The remaining candidates will then face 180,000 Conservative party members who will elect the new party leader.
Promises
Nearly all of the running candidates have promised tax cuts in an attempt to win the party elections. However, Sunak who seems to be emerging as the leading man has shown a sense of economic realism. According to a statement, he said that “honesty and responsibility, not fairytales”. Since the country needs to get back on its feet after the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War.
Likely victor
It is not possible to predict the winner of this election or even the final two candidates but it will likely come down to Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt. Both the candidates, however, are not without criticism as Sunak came under fire because of his wife’s dubious tax matters whereas, Mordaunt previously lost her position as the defence secretary after Johnson came to power.
Regardless of the outcome, the party elections for the position among the remaining eight candidates will be interesting to watch as they reach the final voting and the consequent announcement of the winner in September.
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