Former finance minister Rishi Sunak and incumbent foreign minister Liz Truss will face an internal vote in their parties with the expected result on September 5.
The UK Prime Ministerial race reached its final stage after an internal vote Wednesday (20/7) determined the two finalists for the Conservative Party leadership.
The candidates currently running are Rishi Sunak, former finance minister, and Liz Truss, current foreign minister. The election comes after Boris Johnson’s resignation was announced in early July.
The new prime minister will be chosen by the Conservative Party, which currently holds a majority in the British Parliament. Legend will choose its new leader, who will also assume the post of prime minister.
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Internal elections are held in stages, in which the candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated by conservative parliamentarians.
In the penultimate round, Altar and Truss advanced, while International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt was eliminated from the competition.
The former finance minister finished first in this phase with 137 votes in favour. Truss finished second with 113 votes to Mordaunt’s 105.
The new prime minister will now be elected in a vote by 160,000 members of the Conservative Party, with the result expected on September 5.
Learn more about the two candidates below.
Rishi Altar
Image: REUTERS
The 42-year-old politician is touted as the favorite to replace Boris Johnson after his candidacy for the leadership garnered the support of his former cabinet colleagues and has won every round of the vote so far.
The son of Indian immigrants, he was first elected to Parliament in 2015 and became Johnson’s Secretary of the Treasury in February 2020.
Within weeks of taking over, he tasked himself with running the UK economy when the pandemic began.
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His popularity soared in nationwide polls when he promised to do “whatever it takes” to help people during the health crisis and announced his £350bn aid package.
But in the months that followed, the UK continued to be hit by the economic crisis, and his personal image took a hit when he was fined by the police for violating UK rules. quarantine in June 2020.
Sunak is still regarded as one of the wealthiest lawmakers today, and in April this year he was hit by speculation about the finances of opposition Labor members and the use of tax havens.
The Independent newspaper published a report in which it was listed as beneficiaries of funds in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands in 2020. A spokesperson said he “did not accept” the allegations.
He resigned as finance minister on July 5 and pressured Johnson to stop running the country.
Sunak and then Health Minister Sajid Javid resigned after a scandal involving the appointment of a lawmaker accused of sexual harassment to a government post.
As the world suffers from the economic consequences of the pandemic, war in Ukraine and other serious difficulties, resigning was not an easy decision I took.
“But the public rightly expects the proper, competent and serious conduct of the government,” he said.
Unlike many of his rivals, Sunak presented himself as a candidate who would not cut taxes until inflation was brought under control.
He thanked the support he received on social media following Wednesday’s vote.
“I am grateful that my colleagues have placed their trust in me today. I will work day and night to get our message across the country,” he said on Twitter.
Sunak is married to Akshata Murty, heir to an Indian billionaire. The couple has two daughters
Liz Cage
Image: GETTY IMAGES
The current prime minister is the second woman to hold the UK Foreign Office.
At the age of 46, he has held a wide variety of positions in Parliament and government, and has dealt with local and international issues despite his relatively short time in the legislature.
She was Minister for Women and Equality before being elected Chancellor and preceded her current rival, Rishi Sunak, as Minister of Finance.
He was also Minister for the Environment in the David Cameron government and Minister of Justice during Theresa May’s tenure.
During the Brexit referendum on Britain’s departure from the European Union, she initially campaigned against it, but later changed her stance, arguing that divorce offered an opportunity to “shake things up”.
As Secretary of State, Truss has had to face the complex conflict over the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which nearly jeopardizes the post-Brexit UK-EU deal.
He negotiated the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, two Anglo-Iranian nationals arrested and detained in Iran.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, he took a hard line and insisted that all Russian forces withdraw from the country.
Truss came under criticism after voicing his support for British individuals who wanted to go to Ukraine to fight alongside local forces.
The married mother of two thanked her partymates after Wednesday’s vote.
“Thank you for trusting me. I am ready to face the challenge with my energy from day one,” he said on Twitter.
– Text originally published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62245647
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source: Noticias
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