Johnson Succession: Eccentrics and Trusses in the Runoff

British Foreign Secretary Truss and former Treasury Secretary Sunak are going in a run-off election to succeed outgoing British Prime Minister Johnson. Tory party members have until September 5 to vote.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be succeeded by former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Two politicians got the most votes in the conservative parliamentary group.

Commerce Secretary Penny Mordaunt received the fewest votes, just eight votes short of Truss.

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Sunak received 137 votes and is considered the favorite by many observers. However, the 42-year-old, who also appeals to the center of the party, is internally controversial. Above all, the right-wing conservative wing around the truce accuses Sunak of being responsible for the biggest tax hike in recent decades.

The Secretary of State Truss had 113 votes, but in the last round of voting she always placed third behind former development and defense minister Mordant, who had long been considered the darling of the party’s base.

Mordant had made a name for himself as a staunch supporter of Brexit and garnered widespread support from the party’s base. As the only remaining representative of the right wing, Truss, 46, may now have good cards.

party base vote

The election of Johnson’s successor is now up to the party’s nearly 200,000 members. They should decide by postal vote so that the new leader of the party can be named on 5 September. The role then also includes the office of the head of government. On 25 July, Sunak and Truss meet in a televised duel broadcast by the BBC.

The vote was necessary because the incumbent Johnson had resigned as party leader two weeks earlier after countless scandals under heavy pressure from his own government and parliamentary group.

major challenges

The challenges awaiting a successor are enormous: above all, the pressure of skyrocketing inflation is enormous. At 9.4 percent, inflation is at its highest level in 40 years, and another notable increase in heating costs is expected for the fall.

There is also internal dispute. Several members of the party accuse Prime Minister Johnson of undermining trust in the Tories with his persistent lies and false promises. In elections, the largest opposition party, Labour, is leading, and even in their strongholds, the Conservatives have recently suffered serious bankruptcies.