ENGLAND — After Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned last week, Boris Johnson's return to Britain on Saturday fueled speculation that he would try to restore his previous position. Rishi Sunak, his former chancellor of the Exchequer, appeared prepared to enter the running to succeed Ms. Truss.
While on vacation in the Dominican Republic, Mr. Johnson secured Priti Patel's support, his former home secretary. This was a significant vote of confidence from a leading person on the Conservative Party's right flank.
On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Johnson's allies asserted that he had gained the support of more than 100 MPs. That amount is significantly higher than the number of people who have openly endorsed him. However, if he were to pass that line, it would considerably increase the likelihood that he would go back to 10 Downing Street.To move on to a second round of voting among party members in Britain—a group with which Mr. Johnson remains popular—contenders for party leader must receive nominations from at least 100 of the 357 Conservative legislators. According to a BBC unofficial tally, Mr. Sunak has already received 112 votes from party lawmakers.
A close friend of Johnson's, Conservative MP James Duddridge, wrote on Twitter without naming any of them, "Boris Johnson has more than 100 backers."
The deadline for candidates to collect these nominations is Monday at 2 p.m. The party will conduct two rounds of voting on Monday to narrow the field to one or two contenders. Later in the week, party members will vote if there are only two candidates left.
Mr. Johnson, who was removed from government in July following a mutiny by Conservative MPs and ministers that was sparked by a number of scandals, is in second place behind Mr. Sunak in the list of deposed lawmakers produced by the BBC and other news agencies. According to the BBC, Mr. Johnson received 49 votes, while Penny Mordaunt, the House of Commons leader who has launched her candidacy, received 21.
Some calculations place Mr. Johnson's figures higher. He is in a position to be on the ballot next week, if he chooses to be, according to reporters for the BBC and The Times of London who spoke to persons close to him. However, it was hard to assess the veracity of such allegation in the absence of publicly disclosed identities of backers.
If Mr. Johnson received more than 100 votes, he would automatically become the front-runner because surveys of party members' preferences indicate he would triumph over Mr. Sunak. That would be a rerun of what happened to Mr. Sunak earlier this summer, when he received the most votes among MPs but lost to Ms. Truss among the members.
It will be crucial to see if other conservative personalities like Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch decide to run, and if not, who will win their support.
Some Conservative columnists and commentators have attempted to thwart Mr. Johnson's candidacy from taking off since he continues to enjoy support from the party's grassroots.
"It's time for the Tories to put the country first and vote for Rishi Sunak, the man the markets trust," opined well-known broadcaster Andrew Neil in The Daily Mail. In The Telegraph, Charles Moore expressed his ability to envision "Boris storming back in various conditions." I don't see it working right now, he continued. True Boris supporters will have the guts to advise him to skip this one.
David Frost, who worked for Mr. Johnson's administration and negotiated the post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union, urged MPs to support Mr. Sunak. He stated on Twitter that Boris Johnson "will always be a hero for delivering Brexit." But we must continue. Risking a repetition of the commotion and uncertainty from last year is just wrong.
Other analysts cautioned that Mr. Johnson's election would exacerbate worries about the stability of Britain that had already been raised by Ms. Truss's tax-cutting proposals. Moody's, a ratings organization, downgraded Britain's economic outlook to "negative," citing the country's volatile political situation and high inflation.
The Conservative Party needs to be rebuilt after Ms. Truss' six weeks in charge brought instability and reversals, according to Mr. Johnson's allies. Given the enormous advantage the opposition Labour Party currently enjoys in the polls, some people are betting on him in the hopes that he can keep their seats in a general election.
Ms. Patel tweeted on Saturday afternoon, "I'm supporting @BorisJohnson to return as our Prime Minister, to put together a unified team to deliver our agenda and lead Britain to a stronger and more prosperous future."
[zombify_post]
0 Comments