Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson backed for U.K. prime minister
Could Boris Johnson stage an extraordinary political comeback? What about Rishi Sunak, the bookies’ favorite who fell to Liz Truss in the last contest? Or Penny Mordaunt, who is not widely known but polls well with the Conservative Party members? Or might someone else emerge as the leading hopeful to become the next Conservative Party leader?
The Friday front pages of Britain’s famously boisterous tabloids already had Truss firmly in their rear-view mirrors as they focused on “Boris v Rishi: Fight for the soul of the Tories,” in the words of the Daily Mail. The Telegraph, the Sun and the Daily Express all put Johnson on their front pages, while the left-leaning Mirror just called for a general election “now” in enormous print.
It has been less than 24 hours since Truss said that she was stepping down as leader, giving her the unenviable title of shortest-serving prime minister ever. The party is working on an astonishingly short time frame and plans to have the contest wrapped up in a week.
No one has officially declared they are running but backers for the top three — and the new rules ensure there cannot be more than three — have started declaring their support.
Rishi Sunak is the bookies’ favorite. The runner-up in the last leadership contest has been notably quiet himself, but his “Ready for Rishi” team has started cranking into gear. They point out that during the last contest his candidacy received the most support from his colleagues and say that many of his economic ideas turned out to be prescient.
His critics contend that he betrayed Johnson and blame him for helping to bring that era to an end. But according to the Daily Telegraph, he has more public declarations of support than any other candidate.
Dominic Raab, the former deputy prime minister under Johnson, who also stood in for his former boss when he was sick in hospital with covid, is among those backing Sunak.
“He has the plan & credibility to: restore financial stability, help get inflation down & deliver sustainable tax cuts over time; and unite the Conservatives by bringing the best talent into govt to deliver for the British people,” he tweeted.
Johnson’s supporters want him to return from his plow — like the classical-era hero Cincinnatus brought back to deal with a crisis, whom Johnson referred to in his resignation speech.
Rumors are swirling that Johnson, who was the 55th British prime minister, might also want to be its 57th British prime minister. Those in the “Bring Back Boris” camp argue that Johnson is the only candidate who has a “mandate” to lead. In 2019, Johnson helped his party to a whopping great win in the general election. It is not certain if anyone else could galvanize the population to the same extent — or if Johnson himself even still can.
“One person was elected by the British public with a manifesto and a mandate until January ‘25. If Liz Truss is no longer PM there can be no coronation of previously failed candidates,” tweeted Nadine Dorries, a Johnson loyalist.
Ben Wallace, the popular defense secretary whom some saw as a contender, ruled himself out of the race Friday, saying that he was “leaning” towards Johnson.
Ukraine’s government, for its part, also seemed to back a Johnson return, tweeting — before quickly deleting – a meme with the caption “Better Call Boris” next to Johnson’s face on a poster from the Netflix series “Better Call Saul.”
Johnson is the top pick among the 170,000 Conservative Party members. But there is also widespread antipathy in the broader public. His time in office was marked by scandal after scandal, and voters and his own colleagues were upset by his refusal to accept accountability. He was the first serving prime minister ever to be fined by the police.
Johnson is also still under investigation by the House of Commons for misleading lawmakers over the infamous Downing Street parties and he could still be potentially suspended from Parliament.
It was under his leadership that the Conservatives, at the start of the year, started slipping behind the opposition Labour Party in the polls for the first time in years. Johnson is still under investigation for lying to Parliament. It wasn’t so long ago that 41 percent of…
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