Rishi Sunak leads race to replace UK PM Boris Johnson, but road to 10 Downing Street not easy
India Today
Ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak is leading the race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative party leader and UK PM. But 10 other candidates are in the fray, and the road to 10 Downing Street is far from smooth sailing.
The contest to replace UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is going full steam ahead. Eleven candidates have thrown their hats into the ring, but some might fail the numbers game at the very outset.
With the new British PM to be announced on September 5, time is of the essence, and the Conservative Party has set a grueling schedule. The one who becomes the leader of the ruling Tory party will also take on the premiership of Britain. He or she will possibly lead the next elections. An astute choice is must, for which the stage is set.
The 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, which organises the leadership contest, has raised the bar. On the evening of July 11, it was announced that the nominations for the post can be filed on July 12, between 12 noon and 6 pm.
Only a window of around six hours has been given to file the nomination for the leadership battle. Each candidate will require the support of at least 20 MPs to do so and each candidate will be allowed to spend £300,000 on their campaign, which could last about eight weeks for the two who reach the finishing line.
This time around, the support required by each candidate has been raised from eight MPs to 20. The first round of voting takes place on Tuesday. Anyone who then received less than 30 votes will be eliminated before another vote follows on Thursday.
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The first elimination round would increase the support number to 30 MPs. Sir Graham Brady, the committee chairman, insisted this only keeps “serious candidates” in the race.
