After Britain’s Boris Johnson resigns, who could be the next prime minister? – National

Bowing to calls from fellow ministers and lawmakers in his Conservative Party, Boris Johnson said he was stepping down as Britain’s Prime Minister on Thursday.

Below is a summary of some of those that might be in scope to replace it.

However, there is no clear favorite and they are not listed in order of their likely prospects.

Liz Truss

The foreign secretary is the darling of the ruling Conservative Party’s rank and file and regularly comes out on top in polls of party members conducted by the Conservative Home website.

Truss has a carefully cultivated public image and was photographed in a tank last year, echoing a famous 1986 photograph of Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first woman Prime Minister.

The 46-year-old initially campaigned against Brexit, but said after the referendum that she had changed her mind.

She spent the first two years of Johnson’s tenure as international trade secretary and last year was appointed UK’s chief negotiator with the European Union.

Truss is now responsible for dealing with the EU over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, where she is taking an increasingly tough line in negotiations.

She said Monday that Johnson has her “100 percent support,” and she urged colleagues to support him.

Jeremy Hunt

The former Secretary of State, 55, finished second to Johnson in the 2019 leadership competition. He would offer a more serious and less controversial management style after the turmoil of Johnson’s Premiership.

For the past two years, Hunt has used his experience as a former Health Secretary to lead the chair of Parliament’s Health Committee and has not been marred by having served in the current government.

Earlier this year he said his ambition to become prime minister had “not completely gone away”. Hunt said he voted to oust Johnson in a confidence vote last month that the prime minister narrowly won.

Hunt supported Remain in the EU ahead of the 2016 vote. It’s unclear if he would feel the need to maintain a hard line on Brussels to win Conservative voters’ support, or if he could seek a more pragmatic relationship to get the improve trade after Brexit.

Ben Wallace

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, 52, has become the most popular government official among Conservative Party members in recent months thanks to his handling of the Ukraine crisis, according to Conservative Home.

A former soldier, he was reported in 1992 for an incident in which the patrol he commanded arrested an Irish Republican Army guerrilla unit suspected of bombing British troops.

He began his political career in May 1999 as a Member of the Scottish Assembly before being elected to Westminster Parliament for the first time in 2005.

He was Secretary of State for Security from 2016 until taking on his current role three years later, and earned praise last year when his department evacuated British nationals and allies from Afghanistan and sent arms to Kyiv.

He spoke out in favor of remaining in the EU before the referendum.

Rishi Sunak

Sunak, who resigned as finance secretary on Tuesday and said the British public “rightly expects government to be run properly, competently and properly” was the favorite to succeed Johnson until last year.

He was lauded for an economic rescue package from COVID-19, including a costly job preservation program that averted mass unemployment.

However, Sunak was later criticized for not providing households with enough living expenses. Revelations about his wealthy wife’s tax status and a fine he received alongside Johnson for breaching COVID lockdown rules have damaged his reputation.

Its tax and spending budget last year put Britain on track for its heaviest tax burden since the 1950s, undermining its claims of favoring lower taxes.

Sunak voted to leave the EU in 2016.

Sajid Javid

Javid was the first cabinet minister to resign in protest at allegations that Johnson misled the public about what he knew about sexual harassment allegations against a Conservative lawmaker.

A former banker and free market advocate, Javid has served in a number of cabinet roles, most recently as health secretary. In 2020, he resigned as Treasury Secretary from Johnson.

The son of Pakistani-Muslim immigrant parents is a Thatcher admirer and placed fourth in the 2019 leadership competition to replace former Prime Minister Theresa May.

Javid supported staying in the EU “with a heavy heart and without enthusiasm” and said he feared the fallout from an exit vote would add to the economic turmoil.

Nadhim Zahawi

The newly appointed finance minister impressed as vaccines secretary as Britain had one of the world’s fastest rollouts of COVID vaccinations.

Zahawi’s personal history as a former refugee from Iraq who came to Britain as a child sets him apart from other candidates.

He co-founded the polling company YouGov before entering Parliament in 2010. Most recently he worked as Minister of Education. Zahawi said last week it was a “privilege” to someday be prime minister.

He supported leaving the EU.

Penny Mordaunt

The former defense secretary was fired by Johnson when he became prime minister after she backed his rival Hunt during the last leadership contest.

A passionate supporter of leaving the European Union, Mordaunt made national headlines by taking part in a now-defunct reality TV dive show.

Mordaunt, currently junior trade secretary, called the parties in government breaking the lockdown “shameful”. She had previously expressed her loyalty to Johnson.

Mordaunt campaigned to leave the EU in 2016.

Tom Tugendhat

The chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a former soldier who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan has already indicated that he would take part in any leadership competition.

He was a regular critic of Johnson and would offer his party a clear break with previous governments.

However, he is relatively untested, having never served in the Cabinet.

He voted to remain in the EU.

Suella Bravermann

Braverman, a pro-Brexit Attorney General, has announced she will run for leadership. She was heavily criticized by lawyers during her tenure after the government attempted to break international law over post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland.

She campaigned for exit from the EU and served as junior minister in the Brexit department under May, but resigned in protest at the then-Prime Minister’s proposed Brexit deal, saying it had not gone far enough to strengthen ties with the UK break block.

(Editing by Michael Holden, Jon Boyle, Catherine Evans, Mark Heinrich and Andrew Heavens)