Political crisis in Britain: Conservatives try to hasten Boris Johnson’s departure

A chaotic but nostalgic House of Commons fired Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in his own probable last parliamentary questioning on Wednesday. Boris said it is “very likely that the new party leader will be elected by acclamation.” The vote for him is in progress.

A new premier would take office in Downing St from next week and not September 5, when it was initially announced that Johnson would be replaced in office, following his enforced resignation last week, under the pressure of a series of scandals.

The trial began on Wednesday and the first result of the vote was expected at 5pm UK time.

Voting must continue until there are only two candidates left.who must officially campaign among the Conservatives before being voted and one of them elected.

But times are running out. This is why the conservative candidate this time could be elected “by acclamation”, bypassing these steps, in the face of the political and global crisis.

No vote of confidence

The Labor vote of confidence to evict Boris this Wednesday and call a general election was neutralized by the conservatives and especially by the still prime minister.

The government filed a motion of no confidence in itself after blocking the Labor Party’s offer to immediately remove Boris Johnson from office.

It means MPs will vote if they still have faith in the prime minister’s administration, even if he resigns in a few weeks.

Labor’s request was a motion of confidence in the government and the prime minister. It may have triggered early general elections immediate.

But the government accused the opposition of “doing politics”, saying it “was not a precious use of parliamentary time” because the prime minister has already resigned. Conservative MPs are expected to be more likely to vote for the government if the motion does not carry Boris Johnson’s name.

Eight candidates and two favorites

Elections to elect Boris Johnson’s replacement as party leader have begun among eight candidates and his first results will be known on Wednesday. They were more. But they have come down to align themselves with others, who have more possibilities than they do.

The main candidates are Rishi Sunak, the former finance minister, Penny Mordaunt, the minister of Commerce and Brexitier and Chancellor Liz Truss. They are joined in the first ballot by the external candidates, the deputy and former soldier Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch, the current head of the Finance area Nadhim Zahawi, the former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and the lawyer BrexitierSuella Braverman.

Voting takes place in person between 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm local time, with the results being announced at tea time. Anyone supported by fewer than 30 MPs will be eliminated. While all campaigns are upbeat, even privately, Braverman, Hunt, Zahawi, and Badenoch appear to be the most at risk of early elimination.

The government’s favorite

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss lead the favorites of the eight candidates. But the candidacy of Penny Mordaunt, a Brexitier Tough and, in her words, “the most feared of Labor”, she could be the Tory’s favorite prime minister if she reaches the final. This is revealed by a YouGov poll of 89 Conservative Party members. You are now Minister of Commerce and have been Secretary of Defense.

The poll is bad news for millionaire Rishi Sunak (42), an Indian-born MP, meritocrat, educated at the aristocrat Winchester College and Stanford University in California, in his elegant tight Italian clothes and married to Akshata Murthy, a Indian billionaires If she wins it would be the first time that the son of an Indian family, who arrived as an immigrant from Africa in Great Britain, lands in Downing St. An example of British multiculturalism.

In an event organized last night by another faction of the party, the Common Sense group, Sunak said he was willing to cancel the BBC license, which is how the public broadcaster is financed.

Asked if he was willing to change the BBC’s funding model, Sunak replied, “Sure”, noting that a consultation is underway and telling MPs “we should use that process.”

Sunak has a massive advantage in sponsors. More than a quarter of MPs who supported a candidate supported him during Covid. But more than half of Conservative MPs have yet to express their preference.

“Toxic car on the right”

The leader of the Scottish nationalists in Westminster, Ian Blackford, says the competition for the leadership of the Conservatives is “rapidly descending into a toxic race to the right”.

“The former chancellor of finance promised to govern like Margaret Thatcher. The current chancellor threatens cuts of 20% to the NHS (health service) and public services. And everyone is trying to outdo each other, in an extreme Brexit and in the economy, “she said.

“Whoever becomes the next leader of the Tories will make Genghis Khan look like a moderate,” laughed the Scotsman.

Who is Penny Mordaunt?

Penny Mordaunt was a British Navy military officer, former Defense Secretary, ultra anti-European and a favorite among the younger members of the Tory party. But the candidates hack each other’s websites in this campaign.

The current head of the financial area and owner of the Yougov polling company, Nadhim Zahawi, is a candidate for leader under the slogan “NZ4PM”. However, the domain name “NZ4PM.com” has been registered by Mordaunt supporters and redirects users to the Mordaunt campaign website. And it’s not just Zahawi who has fallen victim to Mordaunt’s digital deception.

Prosecutor Suella Braverman also found her website under attack from Mordaunt’s team. The URL “suella4leader.co.uk” redirects to the Mordaunt website.

The one that triggered the crisis

Boris Johnson’s health secretary Sajid Javid launched the government crisis with his brutal resignation letter for reasons of “integrity and honesty” in front of the premier, immediately followed by Rishi Shani. But he did not get the 20 nominations required to be a candidate in this election.

With Rishi Sunak presenting himself as “experienced and knowledgeable” and other rivals offering aggressive tax cuts and promises of “a new beginning”, supporters accept that Javid has been “caught among radical outsiders and competent insiders”.

This Pakistani-born former millionaire banker, who speaks Urdu at home with his mother, has lost all hope of continuing his career.

“One could argue that he was more credible than radical people and more radical than credible, and in days and weeks he could have emerged. But during a few feverish days of the crisis he did not appear, ”explained one of his followers.

At 5pm UK time, the first clues will begin to appear as to where the British Conservative Party is headed and who might run the kingdom.

Paris, correspondent

CB