Who could replace Liz Truss as prime minister?

UK – Liz Truss has announced she will be resigning, meaning there will now be another leadership election to decide who will be the next Conservative leader and prime minister.

The competition for its replacement will be expected to be completed by the end of next week. Potential candidates need at least 100 nominations from other Conservative MPs to get on the ballot, which means no more than three of them will be able to run because there are 357 Conservative MPs.

In practice, there are likely to be two candidates; or even one who becomes leader without a vote of the party members. No one has yet confirmed that they will be running, but here are some potential candidates.

Rishi Sunak

Earlier this summer, Rishi Sunak ran to replace Boris Johnson as a leader and reached two finals alongside Ms. Truss, winning the most support from Conservative MPs.

During the campaign, he warned that his rival’s tax plans would hurt the economy, but his message was not well received by party members and he lost by 21,000 votes.

Penny Mordaunt

Penny Mordaunt felt like prime minister earlier this week when she replaced Liz Truss during an urgent matter in Parliament.

She has received good reviews for her confident work in the mailbox and may want to try her hand at leadership again. She persevered in the last contest and garnered strong support from her fellow deputies, but simply missed out on the final two.

Supporting Mrs. Truss, she was appointed Head of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Privy Council, which meant that she presided over the Council for the Accession of the new King.

Boris Johnson

With only a week left to choose a new leader, many of the challenges are likely to be familiar faces, especially the man who was prime minister just a few weeks ago.

Boris Johnson was forced to announce his resignation in July after a massive uprising of ministers and deputies. This followed months of squabbles over Downing Street parties and other disputes, including the appointment of Chris Pincher as Deputy Chief Whip despite being aware of an official complaint about the MP’s “improper conduct”.

The MP for Uxbridge is to be investigated by the Committee of Privileges as to whether he obstructed the Commons by telling MPs that No. 10 followed blocking rules. Subsequently, he and others were fined for Covid violations.

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Ben Wallace

While many leading Tories disagree within the party, fellow MPs see the Secretary of Defense as a reliable pair of hands.

Mr. Wallace has been gaining more attention since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the UK made an early decision to support Kyiv with weapons and training.

Despite his opposition to Brexit, Mr. Wallace was a key supporter of Boris Johnson and was rewarded with a cabinet post in 2019.

Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch was the surprise breakthrough candidate in the latest race for the lead, and although she didn’t win, the competition helped boost her reputation considerably.

Although she was a relatively junior minister, she enlisted the support of senior conservative Michael Gove and attracted attention for her attacks on the so-called “awakened” culture.

Suella Braverman

The resignation of the former Home Secretary put pressure on Liz Truss, and less than 24 hours later, the Prime Minister resigned. While Ms. Braverman’s departure was allegedly linked to a data breach, her angry resignation letter hinted at disagreements over immigration.

Ms. Braverman tried to reach out to her party’s right wing on social issues, saying it was her “dream” to start smuggling migrants to Rwanda, as well as criticizing “tofu-eating wokerati.”