From Wednesday, eight candidates will vie for the position of Conservative leader, and thus head of the British government, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned last week. Of these, five are of foreign origin, and the majority voted for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, whose campaign for the 2016 referendum was one of the main agendas for the upsurge in the country’s immigration policy.
They are: Rishi Sunak and Sola Braverman, of Indian descent, Tom Tugendhat, of French descent, Nazim Zahawi, of Iraqi Kurdish descent, and Kimi Badenouche, of Nigerian descent. In addition to these, Jeremy Hunt, Benny Mordaunt and Liz Truss are also competing for this position.
Although there is no clear favourite, bookmakers cite Sunak and Mordaunt as the top contenders, followed by Truss.
The first vote will take place between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. this Wednesday, and those who don’t get 30 votes won’t move on to the next round, on Thursday. If necessary, another vote will be held on Monday to determine the finalists for the dispute. After the summer campaign (in the Northern Hemisphere), the new British Prime Minister will be announced on September 5.
Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, the first Hindu to hold the position, was the favorite to succeed Boris, but his legitimacy has been shaken by a series of scandals. The issues revolve around the comfortable tax status of his Indian billionaire wife, which allowed him to avoid paying millions in British taxes, and the US residence permit that Sunak had until last year.
A former Goldman Sachs analyst and hedge fund employee, married to the daughter of an Indian businessman, Sunak, whose grandparents immigrated to the UK from northern India in the 1960s, amassed a large personal fortune before becoming an MP in 2015.
Sunak, an advocate of Brexit, was appointed finance minister in 2020, a key position amid the pandemic, but he has come under fire for doing little to tackle the stifling cost of living crisis.
Sunak was the first cabinet member to resign, causing a public defeat and leading to Boris’ downfall. In his public resignation letter, he mentioned economic differences with Boris and criticized the government’s behavior, which could win him new admirers.
Former Foreign Affairs and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, 55, lost the leadership of the Conservative Party to Boris Johnson in 2019, presenting himself as the “serious” alternative. Since then, he has been preparing to run again, garnering support and staying outside the Boris government.
Hunt gained further clarity by questioning the Boris government’s Covid-19 pandemic containment policies, in his role as chair of the British Health and Care Select Committee.
Boris’ colleague and former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron at Oxford University, Hunt, who has taught English in Japan and is fluent in Japanese, is chair of the Parliamentary Health Committee. He has the image of a “nice guy”, although some consider him to lack charisma.
Without mincing words and harsh criticism of the “awakened” protest movements – a reference to a more conscious perception of social justice issues – Secretary of State Liz Truss became very popular in the ranks of the Conservative Party, in an attempt to such protest movements as former Margaret Thatcher.
The 46-year-old, who has worked for ten years in the energy and telecommunications sectors, has been appointed Head of Diplomacy as a reward for her work as Minister for International Trade during Britain’s departure from the European Union.
In this position, the great advocate of free trade who voted to remain in the European Union, before changing his position, was able to close a series of important post-Brexit trade deals.
The chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee was the first to explicitly announce his intention to run in the event that Boris resigned or was impeached. Tom is considered a “middleman” and has promoted his candidacy as an opportunity for a fresh start in an effort to bridge divisions in the government.
Tom, the son of a British father and a French mother, is a former British Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Former Defense Secretary and current Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Penny Mordaunt, 49, has been active in the 2016 pro-Brexit campaign and has since worked on negotiating trade agreements for the UK.
Being such a good speaker, it is estimated that she could be a unit candidate, able to garner support from different wings of the Conservative Party. Mordaunt is one of the most frequently quoted names in British bookmakers.
British Attorney General since 2020, Conservative Suila Braverman, 42, is of Indian descent. Her parents immigrated to the UK from Kenya and Mauritius in the 1960s, the conservative was raised in Wembley and has a law degree from Queen’s College, Cambridge.
Soyla, who has strongly advocated Britain’s departure from the European Union, said in a recent interview that she intends to offer “all the chances of a no-deal Brexit across the country”, in the event of Boris’ succession, which would include a tougher stance. Like immigration and gender politics. On another occasion, Braverman claimed to have admired the British writer J.K. Rowling, who called him a “heroine” because of her anti-transgender streaks.
Nadim Al-Zahawi, 55, was born in Baghdad, Iraq, to a Kurdish family who fled to the UK under Saddam Hussein.
Al-Zawahi holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from University College London. He was a co-founder of polling firm YouGov, where he served for five years as CEO, before joining Parliament in 2010.
In his tenure as Minister of Vaccination, he oversaw the successful campaign of Coronavirus in the UK, he was awarded honors and was promoted to Cabinet, becoming Minister of Education in September. Al-Zawahiri was a supporter of Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Although Boris’ critics argue that al-Zahawi’s loyalty to a tarnished prime minister makes him unsuitable to lead the party, he is widely seen as a credible person, popular among the ranks of the Conservative Party.
Kimi Badenoch is British of Nigerian descent. She grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and only returned to the UK when she was 16 years old. Badenock graduated in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Sussex, and joined the Conservative Party in 2005.
As a former Minister of State for Equality between 2020 and 2022, Badenouche has been criticized for delays in banning conversion therapy by members of the Government’s LGBTQIA+ advisory committee, which has called for her resignation.
Badenoch says he wants to cut taxes and promote “limited government and focused on the essentials”.
“Lifelong web fan. Incurable internet junkie. Avid bacon guru. Social media geek. Reader. Freelance food scholar.”
