Who could take over as UK prime minister?

The race to replace Britain’s Boris
Johnson as Conservative leader and prime minister is underway, with nine
candidates already declared and more Tory MPs likely to join.

While several possible successors are seen as frontrunners, there is no
clear favourite — and such contests are notoriously volatile.

– Rishi Sunak –

The UK’s first Hindu finance minister, Sunak quit on Tuesday and declared
he was standing three days later.

Long seen as Johnson’s most likely successor, his prospects were dented
earlier this year by questions over his private wealth and family’s tax
arrangements.

But a recent poll of Conservative members who will eventually vote for
their new leader put him on top.

Sunak, 42, has a high profile on social media — launching his bid in a
slick video posted to Twitter — and won plaudits for shoring up the economy
during the pandemic.

But his apparent reluctance to embrace the immediate tax cuts being
promised by rivals could harm his prospects.

– Jeremy Hunt –

Former foreign and health secretary Hunt, 55, lost to Johnson in 2019, but
confirmed Saturday he will run again.

A supporter of remaining inside the European Union during the 2016
referendum, he has revealed Brexiteer Ester McVey will be his deputy if he wins.

A fluent Japanese speaker lacking Johnson’s charisma, he has also vowed to
cut corporation tax from 25 to 15 percent.

– Liz Truss –

Foreign Secretary Truss is widely expected to stand but is yet to say so.
The 46-year-old is popular among Conservative members for her
outspokenness.

But that has also stoked questions about her judgement, for instance when
in February she encouraged Britons to fight in Ukraine.

Critics say her leadership posturing is too overt.

When she headed the Department for International Trade, some MPs dubbed it
the “Department for Instagramming Truss” because of her prolific output on the
social media site.

– Sajid Javid –

Javid, who also quit as health secretary Tuesday and had previously
resigned as finance minister in 2020, announced his candidacy Saturday.
The 52-year-old son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver was previously a
high-flying banker.

Like Sunak, he also faces questions about his personal wealth and tax
affairs but tried to brush them off in media interviews Sunday, promising a
raft of tax cuts.

– Nadhim Zahawi –

Newly appointed finance minister Zahawi was praised for overseeing
Britain’s pandemic vaccines rollout, before helming the education department.

The 55-year-old is a former refugee from Iraq who came to Britain as a
child speaking no English. Before entering politics, he co-founded the
prominent polling company YouGov.

But his private wealth has also drawn adverse attention, including when he
claimed parliamentary expenses for heating his horse stables.

His fledgling campaign was endangered Sunday after newspapers reported he
is being investigated by UK tax authorities, though he has denied wrongdoing.

– Tom Tugendhat –

The prominent backbencher who chairs parliament’s influential Foreign
Affairs Committee was the first to launch his bid.

A former army officer who served in the Middle East, he is also a hawk on
China and been critical of the government’s handling of the troop withdrawal
from Afghanistan.

The 49-year-old is pitching himself as a “clean start” after Johnson’s
turbulent three-year tenure.

– Penny Mordaunt –

Mordaunt, 49, the first woman to have been UK defence secretary and
currently a trade minister, was the latest to join the contest, announcing in a
video posted to social media Sunday.

A strong Brexit supporter and key figure in the 2016 “Leave” campaign, she
has been tipped as a potential unity candidate who could draw support from the
Conservative party’s warring factions.

– Suella Braverman –

Attorney general and arch-Brexiteer Braverman declared her campaign in
mid-week media interviews.

The 42-year-old is popular within the party for her Euroscepticism.
She is one of 28 so-called “Spartan” Tory MPs, who refused to back ex-Prime
Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal on all three occasions it was voted on in
parliament.

– Grant Shapps –

Transport Secretary Shapps emerged onto the crowded field on Saturday, also
promising tax cuts and competent government.

The 53-year-old is seen as an effective communicator and campaigner, but
considered a long shot for the top job.

– Kemi Badenoch –

Former equalities minister Badenoch, who resigned Wednesday, has the lowest
profile of the current contenders and is another unlikely victor.

The 42-year-old has promised to tell “the truth”, saying people are
“exhausted by platitudes and empty rhetoric”.

AFP