By Ben Kerrigan-
Rishi Sunak is favourite to become Britain’s next prime minister, following the withdrawal of Boris Johnson, who pulled out of the Conservative Party leadership race to replace Liz Truss, who resigned last week after an economic upheaval. With the endorsement of nearly 150 conservative MPs, Sunak – who served as Chancellor under Johnson – has emerged as the frontrunner in the Tory leadership race.
A candidate requires nominations from at least 100 MPs to stand in the race.
Johnson’s withdrawal surprised many, after he raced home from a holiday in the Caribbean to try and secure the backing of 100 legislators to enter the contest to replace Truss, the woman who succeeded him in September after he was forced to quit over a string of scandals.
He said late on Sunday that he had secured the backing of 102 legislators and could have been “back in Downing Street”, but that he had failed to persuade either Sunak or the other contender Mordaunt, to come together “in the national interest”.
Johnson spent the weekend trying to garner support from fellow Conservative lawmakers after flying back from a Caribbean holiday. Late on Sunday he said he had amassed the backing of 102 colleagues, though had 60 publicly declared supporters. However, he was far behind Sunak in support and said he had concluded that “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament.”
The prospect of a return by Johnson had thrown the already divided Conservative Party into further turmoil. He led the party to a thumping election victory in 2019, but his premiership was clouded by scandals over money and ethics that eventually became too much for the party to bear.
In his Sunday statement, Johnson insisted he was “well placed to deliver a Conservative victory” in the next national election, due by 2024. And he said that he likely would have won a ballot of Conservative Party members against either of his rivals.
“But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do,” he said.
He hinted he might be back, however, saying: “I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.”
“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time,” Johnson said.
The former prime minister had secured the public backing of just less than 60 Conservative legislators by Sunday.
his withdrawal makes Sunak the most likely man to replace Truss, who was forced to resign after her disastrous economic programme triggered turmoil in financial markets. According to the rules, if only one candidate secures the backing of 100 Conservative legislators, they will be named prime minister on Monday.
If two candidates pass the threshold, they will go forward to a vote of the party membership, with the winner announced on Friday, just days before new Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt lays bare the state of the country’s finances in a budget plan due to be released on October 31.
Jeremy Hunt declared his backing for Sunak late on Sunday.
“I’ve never known this sort of rancour and division and it is very destabilising,” said Daniel Kawczynski, a Conservative legislator. “It is destabilising for the party, and destabilising for the country.”
A number of Johnson supporters are expected to switch to Mordaunt, who has presented herself as the unity candidate, but many immediately switched to Sunak. A source close to the Mordaunt campaign said the former defence minister would continue in the contest.
“She is the unifying candidate who is most likely to keep the wings of the Conservative Party together,” the source said.
Johnson has loomed large over UK politics ever since he became mayor of London in 2008 and went on to become the face of the Brexit vote in 2016. While he led the Conservative Party to a landslide election in 2019, he was forced out just three years later by a rebellion of his ministers.
Sunak said he hoped Johnson would continue to contribute to public life “at home and abroad”.
One Sunak supporter, who asked not to be named, told the Reuters news agency that his main reaction was relief because if Johnson had won, the “party would have torn itself apart”.
Another Conservative legislator, Lucy Allan, said on Twitter: “I backed Boris for PM, but I think he has done the right thing for the country.”
Cabinet office minister Nadhim Zahawi, who minutes earlier had published an article on the Daily Telegraph website praising Johnson, said “a day is a long time in politics”.
“Rishi is immensely talented, will command a strong majority in the parliamentary Conservative Party, and will have my full support and loyalty,” he said.
Earlier, many of the Conservative legislators who normally back Johnson switched their support to Sunak, saying the country needed a period of stability after months of turmoil that has sparked headlines – and raised alarm – around the world.
Johnson is also still facing a privileges committee investigation into whether he misled parliament over Downing Street parties during COVID-19 lockdowns. He could be forced to resign or be suspended from office if found guilty.
Alex Deane, a Conservative commentator, said despite Johnson dropping his comeback bid, many people in the UK believe he could still run again in the future.
“A week ago we would have been surprised if we were thinking of Boris Johnson becoming our prime minister again very soon. So it’s been a whirlwind of events here in London,” Deane told Al Jazeera.
Whoever wins the race will be the UK’s third prime minister in less than two months.
The next general election is not due to take place until at least 2024, after the Conservatives won a landslide majority in the last one in 2019.
Labour and other parties argue only an election can end the months of political chaos, sparked when Johnson was himself forced out after nonstop personal and political scandals.
In the resultant contest, Truss won the support of just over 80,000 Tory party members, defeating Sunak, who correctly warned that her right-wing program of debt-fueled tax cuts would crash the economy.
Truss announced on Thursday she was quitting after just 44 tempestuous days in office.
Political website Guido Fawkes, which is running a rolling spreadsheet of Tory MPs’ declared support, had Sunak on 103, Johnson on 68 and Mordaunt on 25 by late Friday.
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