Find out who could succeed Liz Truss as UK Prime Minister

A new leadership contest will take place within a week, Liz Truss said in her resignation speech on Thursday. The prime minister left office after the failure of her economic plan and internal pressure.

Thus, the Conservative Party is expected to choose the fifth prime minister or prime minister in just over six years – and the third in this legislature. But who can be the next leader?

Here are some of the top names for the post of UK Prime Minister:

Rishi Sunak

Sunak proved to be something of a “death prophet” for the government, as many of the predictions he made during Truss’ leadership of the economic plan came to pass.

The former Chancellor of the Exchequer (equivalent to finance minister) warned that unfunded tax cuts proposed by the then prime minister would lead to a run on the pound sterling, panic in the bond market and concern from the International Monetary Fund.

Perhaps even he will be surprised at the pace with which he has proved himself right.

Sunak has experience fighting the economic crisis, having guided the UK through the Covid-19 pandemic. He is also popular with MPs, having secured more votes in Parliament than Truss before the choice of final candidates was open to members, losing only in the final vote.

The confidence he has among lawmakers – and the confirmation of his predictions – could make him the most likely to command the ship going forward.

Penny Mordaunt

The House of Commons leader may have had a dress rehearsal for prime minister this week after replacing Liz Truss in a debate, in a performance that seemed as much about performing as about helping the prime minister.

Mordaunt came in third in the last leadership election, narrowly missing out on being placed in front of the members – among whom she was expected to do well, in part due to her military credentials. She is a reservist in the Royal Navy and briefly served as Secretary of State for Defence.

Like Sunak, the parliamentarian is from the more moderate wing of the party. There were even conversations among other members that the two would form a “Dream Team” slate, although that didn’t come to fruition – and it’s unclear if either of them would accept being chancellor rather than taking on the role. main post.

Grant Shapps

A sign of the disarray of the Truss administration’s final days is the appointment of Grant Shapps as Secretary of the Interior – despite not having been offered a ministerial role of any kind when he took office.

Shapps served as secretary of transportation for Boris Johnson. He ran to succeed him in the previous leadership election, but dropped out of the race three days later after failing to secure the 20 deputies’ votes needed to advance to the next round.

Kemi Badenoch

Badenoch came fourth in the party’s leadership elections, but was consistently ranked by polls as the favorite among Conservative grassroots members.

One of the youngest lawmakers in the running, Badenoch quickly won the support of conservative nobleman Michael Gove, who lauded her as the party’s “outstanding talent”.

She is on the right of the Conservative party and in her previous candidacy for leadership suggested that the government’s climate targets could be too expensive.

Boris Johnson

Several allies have argued that Johnson could be a unity candidate who could bring stability to the country, despite his resignation in disgrace just months ago after a series of scandals made his position untenable.

when asked by CNN how they could justify Johnson to be prime minister again, a lawmaker who campaigned for him in 2019 said, “The socialists will destroy our economy, and if you don’t understand that, I really fear for our future.”

Another lawmaker who supported Johnson in 2019 said he was the only candidate who could comfortably win over both Conservative lawmakers and party members.

Close allies said they were aware that he was being actively pressured in the hours after Truss’s resignation, arguing that he represented the party’s best chance for medium-term stability.

In his final speech as prime minister, Boris Johnson made one of his characteristic allusions to ancient history. He said he would “go back to his plow” like the Roman statesman Cincinnatus – hinting at a more peaceful life.

But that’s not how Cincinnatus saw its days. He was called back from his plow to return to Rome for a second term – this time as dictator.

Other names in the race

the waiver of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary on Wednesday night may have been a precursor to a possible leadership bid. The former attorney general hasn’t run before — but with her “hard-line” stance on immigration, she may seem destined to drag the party further to the right.

Tom Tugendhat emerged as a surprising favorite among Conservative members and the general public, despite coming in fifth in the last leadership election. Having not served as a cabinet member prior to this dispute, Tugendhat distanced himself from the Johnson administration’s moral confusion and promised a “clean start” for Britain. After serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tugendhat was appointed Minister of Security by Truss.

Ben Wallace , secretary of defense and another ex-military, was tipped to succeed Johnson in the latest leadership contest – being extremely well-voted among Conservative members. However, he did not run in that election and it is unclear whether his position has changed since then.

the former prime minister Theresa May was also touted as a possible “unity” candidate to succeed Truss. May tried to rally the conflicting wings of the Conservative party over Brexit in a compromise attempt that resulted in her replacing her with Boris Johnson. As the party has proved incapable of resolving its disputes, another compromise attempt may be attempted.

*Luke McGee, from CNN contributed to this report

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