Grant Shapps, an MP who served in the cabinet under former Prime Minister David Cameron, vowed to provide a “strategic” and “quiet” government.
Grant Shapps, an MP who served in the cabinet under former Prime Minister David Cameron, vowed to provide a “strategic” and “quiet” government.
Britain’s transport secretary on Saturday became the fifth Conservative MP to launch a bid to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a long shot addition to a growing and already acrimonious leadership race.
Grant Shapps, a veteran legislator who first served in the cabinet under former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010, but was not among the current frontrunners in the election to replace Johnson, called for a “strategic” and “quiet” government to be provided. swore off.
His announcement came hours after Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who has impressed in the role amid the war in Ukraine and has been one of the Tory members’ favorites in several recent polls, Said- Will not run away after discussing with friends and family,
“It hasn’t been an easy choice to make, but my focus is on keeping my current job and this great country safe,” he said on Twitter.
The months-long campaign, potentially pitting more than a dozen Conservative lawmakers and several factions of the ruling party against each other, is set to be formalized on Monday, when a committee of backbenchers will set a timetable and rules. meeting to agree on.
Sunak forward for the post
leading the way Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunkiwho helped kickstart a cabinet rebellion that forced Johnson to resign on Thursday.
Mr Sunak resigned late on Tuesday, prompting dozens more junior aides to follow suit and forcing his former boss to step down as Tory leader after 36 hours.
But Mr Johnson, whose three-year premiership has been defined by scandal, the country’s departure from the European Union and COVID-19, said he would remain in place until his successor is selected.
The heat of intense campaigning is now knocking.
Members of the party would eventually choose their new leader – from a two-man shortlist in several rounds of voting by all 358 Tory MPs – ahead of the Conservatives’ annual convention in early October.
Along with the Brexit credentials of the candidates, taxation is set to be a key feature of the race, as the UK faces a toxic combination of high inflation and stagnant growth and relatively high tax rates as well as a steep rise in the cost of living. it occurs.
other candidates
Along with Mr Sunak, attorney general and arch-Brexitier Suella Braverman, relatively unknown former equality minister Cami Badenoch and backbench Tory MP Tom Tugendhat have announced their candidacy.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and the new Finance Minister Nadim Zhawi – who replaced Sunak at the Treasury – are expected to join the crowded fray.
Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who was Boris Johnson’s runner-up in 2019, is “almost certain” to run again, aides told UK media.
Former finance and health minister Sajid Javid, who also left Mr Johnson’s government on Tuesday, may also stand, but Mr Sunak’s aides have told him to step aside for clearly running into the leadership, many times informed of.