Published on : 08/07/2022 – 19:41
Former British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Friday his candidacy to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and therefore as head of government. He is one of many candidates to have declared themselves since the Prime Minister’s resignation on Thursday.
The maneuvers began on Friday July 8 to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, following his resignation caused by an unprecedented political crisis. His former finance minister Rishi Sunak was one of the very first to position himself for his succession.
Boris Johnson resigned Thursday, let go by the Conservative party exhausted by the repeated scandals which marked the 2 years and 349 days in power of the charismatic former hero of Brexit. Between Tuesday and Thursday, some 60 members of his government – ministers, state secretaries and other collaborators with lesser responsibilities – had resigned following a new scandal, leaving him no other option.
“I’m running to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your Prime Minister. Let’s restore confidence, rebuild the economy and bring the country together,” Rishi Sunak, who is among the frontrunners in a race yet once more, said on Twitter on Friday evening. very open. “My values are non-negotiable: patriotism, justice, and hard work,” he added in a video where he particularly emphasizes the importance of his family.
The 42-year-old former finance minister was one of the first to throw in the towel on Tuesday night, apparently without even telling Boris Johnson, along with Health Minister Sajid Javid. These two resignations a few minutes apart had paved the way for dozens of others, elected officials criticizing Boris Johnson for his lack of integrity.
If the Prime Minister has resigned, he has not yet left Downing Street, specifying that he will remain in power until his successor is appointed. This situation, which might last until the fall, is making people cringe, while the country is facing record inflation of 9%, the worst of the G7 countries, and a rise in social movements, in a context of war in Ukraine.
Boris Johnson “is a proven liar drowned in corruption, we can’t go another two months like this,” Labor opposition deputy leader Angela Rayner said, calling on Friday for a caretaker prime minister, on the BBC. “If they don’t, we are very clear that we will present a motion of no confidence before the parliamentary recess” on July 22, she added.
Boris Johnson’s spokesman, however, ruled out Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab as interim. “The prime minister is acting in accordance with convention. He remains prime minister until a new party leader is in place and the work of government will continue during that time,” he said.
The newly appointed Education Minister, James Cleverly, assured that the process of appointing the new Conservative leader would be carried out “professionally but quickly”. Some elected officials, however, fear a chaotic summer.
>> To read also: “United Kingdom: Boris Johnson, the scandal machine”
An appointment before October 2
Details of the procedure to succeed Boris Johnson will be announced on Monday by the 1922 Committee, a Conservative parliamentary group. The designation of the new leader of the party, who will become Prime Minister – the party having the majority in the House of Commons – must take place before the annual convention of the party on October 2 in Birmingham.
Among the other candidates considered, one of the best placed would be Defense Minister Ben Wallace. Next come Trade Secretary Penny Mordaunt, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Health Minister Sajid Javid.
MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, has already announced himself as a candidate. Attorney General Suella Braveman also expressed interest.
And already the knives are out: Jacob Rees-Mogg, loyal to Boris Johnson, of whom he is the Minister for Brexit Opportunities, launched a full attack on Friday once morest Rishi Sunak, whose resignation would have enraged Boris Johnson. “Rishi Sunak failed as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was a high-tax chancellor, who was unaware of the problem of inflation,” he said even before the news was announced. his candidacy.
Announcing his resignation, Boris Johnson, 58, had not had a word for the unprecedented wave of departures in 48 hours, or the turbulence of his mandate and the accusations exposing his lies and his lack of integrity. He said he was “tremendously proud” of his record, and denounced the “powerful herd instinct” at Westminster, a direct attack on those who had abandoned him en masse.
With AFP