London, July 8: After the resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the leader of the Conservative Party, the race has begun to find his successor, BBC reported.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt is thinking making a bid for the Tory leadership as his allies claim that he is attracting a lot of support from his Tory colleagues.
Senior backbencher Tom Tugendhat and Attorney General Suella Braverman have already announced their plans to be in the leadership race.
Johnson was forced to resign as the Tory leader after a cabinet revolt over his leadership and he said that he wants to stay on as PM until the party chooses a successor.
Opposition parties and some Tories want him to go immediately- but that appears unlikely to happen.
He has appointed a new cabinet line-up, replacing ministers that resigned in protest at his leadership, and has told them he will not ask them to make major policy decisions until a new leader is in place.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the treasurer of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, said in an “ideal world” deputy PM Dominic Raab would take over for a few weeks but “that ship has sailed” adding that “We must now live with the fact that Boris Johnson will be prime minister until a successor can be voted on”.
The timetable for the race for Tory leadership race is due to be confirmed next week and the new prime minister is expected to be in office by September.
The Labour Party has threatened to try and unseat the PM immediately through a vote of no confidence, although this would need considerable support among Conservatives to succeed.
Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner told the BBC “the fact he’s trying to cling on for the next couple of months is completely unacceptable”.
Hunt urged Tory MPs to oust Boris Johnson in a party confidence vote last month but has not publicly commented on his leadership ambitions since Johnson quit as party leader.
A former health and foreign secretary, Hunt ran for the Conservative leadership in 2019 and made the final two, before being beaten by Boris Johnson in the ballot of party members.
The chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee Tugendhat, launched his leadership bid by writing in the Daily Telegraph on Friday, promising tax cuts and “new energy and ideas” for government.
Attorney General Ms Braverman has already confirmed she is also in the race, while former Brexit minister Baker said he was “seriously” considering running after being asked by people to do so.
Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps – who both revolted against Johnson – are also considering putting their hats into the ring, the BBC reported.
Meanwhile Conservative MPs Rehman Chishti and John Baron have told the BBC they were also considering running for leadership of the party.
Others tipped to run include Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
In a tweet, Wallace addressed speculation “I’m going to be next prime minister” by jokingly sharing a picture of an American former basketball player who shares his name. “I’d vote for you!,” Mr Wallace wrote.
More declarations are expected in the coming days- but some senior Tories have already said they will not be running, including former Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and former Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
