Xinhua News Agency, London, July 21st.(International Observation) The Conservative Party will elect a new leader who will be the next Prime Minister
Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Juan Xu Feng
The first stage of the British ruling Conservative Party leadership election ended on the 20th. After five rounds of voting, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss advanced to the second stage of the election.
Analysts believe that Sunak won the most votes in the five rounds of voting, but it is difficult to predict whether he will win the final victory. However, whoever wins the party leadership election and becomes the new prime minister of the UK will face many challenges.
ultimate showdown
According to the election rules, the Conservative Party elects a new party leader in two stages: in the first stage, 358 Conservative Party members of the House of Commons vote to lock in two final candidates, and in the second stage, all Conservative Party members vote, and the winner will become the new party leader. and the new British Prime Minister.
A total of 8 eligible Conservative Party members participated in the first stage of the election. In the first four rounds of voting, Sunak received the most votes, with former Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt always in second place, followed by Truss. In the fifth round of voting, Sunak still won the most votes, while Tras surpassed Mordaunt with the number of votes, thus entering the next stage of the election together with Sunak. Next, the two candidates will launch a series of campaign canvassing activities, and the final election results will be announced on September 5.
With multiple crises in succession, especially the resignation of a large number of government officials, Johnson’s government is unsustainable. Johnson announced on the 7th that he would resign as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, but will remain in office until a new leader is elected.
During the Conservative Party leadership election, the ability of the British government to govern was limited. Ian Berg, a professor at the Institute of European Studies at the London School of Economics, told Xinhua that Johnson is still prime minister, but he doesn’t have much ability to launch any major initiatives.
Each has his own strengths
Sunak, 42 years old, of Indian descent, was born in the UK and worked in the financial sector before entering politics. He was elected as a member of the House of Commons in 2015. He has been the chancellor of the exchequer since February 2020. He resigned from this position on the 5th of this month, in his resignation letter. Accused Johnson of being incompetent, saying he had lost confidence in him. Announcing his candidacy, Sunak said the UK was facing “tremendous challenges” and “I want to lead the country in the right direction”.
The public opinion here is that the Ministry of Finance led by Sunak has provided huge financial support for the British economy during the new crown epidemic, avoiding a sharp rise in unemployment, which has won Sunak a lot of praise. Regarding the topic of “tax cuts”, which has attracted much attention, Sunak said that he opposes “unrealistic” immediate tax cuts, and will give priority to curbing inflation.
Truss, 46, was elected to the House of Commons of the Conservative Party in 2010. He has served in various government departments since 2012. He has served as Minister of International Trade and Chairman of the Trade Commission, Minister of Women and Equality, and as Foreign Secretary since September 2021. Among the grassroots members of the Conservative Party, there is a higher voice.
During her tenure as international trade secretary, Truss won praise within the Conservative Party for her performance in promoting trade deals with many countries after the United Kingdom “Brexit”; she took a tough attitude towards international issues after she became foreign secretary. Unlike Sunak’s resignation, Truss remains foreign secretary and has the backing of allies in Johnson’s party.
Truss has pledged to increase defense spending to 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2030, and has also pledged to cut taxes from day one in office.
unpredictable
According to campaign rules, in the second stage of the election, Conservative Party members will elect a new leader by mail-in ballots. According to British media reports, the Conservative Party has about 200,000 members. Public opinion believes that although Sunak leads all the way in the first stage of voting, his lead is gradually shrinking, and the outcome of the party leadership battle is still difficult to predict.
Chris Hopkins, head of political research at Savanta-Conrex, said it was the most unpredictable Conservative leadership election in recent years. In an interview with Xinhua News Agency on the 20th, Berg said that neither candidate won an overwhelming majority in the parliamentary voting stage. This situation cannot send a clear message to Conservative Party members, making the next stage of the election confusing. But only from the perspective of tax cuts, Truss’ positive attitude is not necessarily universally welcomed by Conservative Party members. Tax cuts will reduce fiscal revenue, which in turn will affect medical, social care and other aspects.
Analysts pointed out that no matter who is elected leader of the Conservative Party and becomes prime minister, he will face a series of problems such as severe inflation, high debt, slow economic growth and soaring living costs in the UK.
Matt Cole, a political historian at the University of Birmingham, told Xinhua that whoever wins, the challenge will be to lead the Conservative Party to restore public confidence in the party ahead of the next House of Commons election, as well as deal with the current economy problem.Return to Sohu, see more
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