United Kingdom: Keys to the expected victory of Rishi Sunak, the preferred candidate for the position of the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | international

The UK Conservative Party may be going through its lowest hours in recent years, But it provided invaluable entertainment for the rest of the world. He finished the countless maneuver of Boris Johnson To occupy, once again, the center of attention he never gave up, on Monday, in the early afternoon, it will be known whether the country has a new prime minister – the fifth in six years – or if the competition continues a few more days. Yes there will be coronation or vote.

The Improvised Rules established by the 1922 CommitteeThe parliamentary establishment that includes all Conservative MPs who do not have a portfolio in the government has accelerated the process, to avoid prolonged uncertainty at a sensitive moment in the national economy, with turbulent markets. The committee and its chair, Graham Brady, have been tasked by the party with organizing the primaries to elect a new leader (and a new prime minister, since the Conservatives retain the parliamentary majority they won in 2019).

Brady announced the following schedule last week: This Monday, 2:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. Spanish peninsular time) will be the maximum for candidates to provide the necessary 100 confirmations from their fellow Representatives, in order to compete. In last summer’s competition—the one won by Liz Truss—the threshold was 22 admissions. Many suspected from the start that the new number served the dual purpose of reducing the number of applicants as much as possible – especially adventurers – and complicating Boris Johnson’s frightening return.

With 357 deputies in the parliamentary bloc, only a maximum of three candidates were able to run. If so, at 4:30 p.m., peninsula time, Conservative MPs will hold a vote by first disregard, to remove the third party with the fewest votes. Then, with a bit of a pause, they were again voting among the finalists. In this case, for guidance purpose only, so that associates know what the parliamentary group prefers. From that moment on, electronic ballot boxes and rules will open conservatives They can vote online until Friday, when the winner will be announced.

‘Coronation’ victorious

But the new rules also made it clear that if a single candidate crossed the 100th approval threshold, he would immediately be the new leader and prime minister, without the need for associate voting. Everything indicates that the former Economy Minister, who has already amassed at least 179 support (the majority of the Parliamentary group), is on his way to being crowned by his colleagues, thus becoming the first Briton of Indian origin and Hindu faith to occupy Downing Street. A fact that cannot go unnoticed, at a time when the country is fiercely debating the sins and virtues of its colonial past.

Third in Discord, Benny Mordaunt, He finished the weekend with less than 30 endorsements. Some of his supporters, such as Representatives Roger Gill or Andrea Leadsom, have been working hard from the early hours of Monday to garner support, hoping that many of the 102 alleged MPs who supported Johnson will come to his side. Reuters news agency confirmed that it will already be around 90 supports, in these last and accelerated hours of Monday morning. Mordaunt was briefly the favorite of many Conservatives in the previous primaries. His brief role as leader of the House of Commons, in the six weeks of Truss’s tenure, provided him with an important public display. But this does not seem to be the time. Other Johnson supporters, such as the current Secretary of State, James Cleverly, or former Home Secretary Priti Patel, are moving to Sunak’s team, assuming his election now is inevitable.

Until the last moment, nothing could be ruled out. There are related voices in the formation questioning the idea of ​​MPs appointing a new prime minister without going through associates, and suggesting that a way to avoid it would be to promote Mardonnet in these final hours, to force a vote on the rules. . Others believe, however, that the 160,000 eligible members of the vote are controlled by the party’s more radical wing – as Truss’ election this summer showed – and that the Conservatives cannot afford to fail to be elected, if they intend to avoid the electoral advance it demands. The opposition is persistent.

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