In the parliamentary elections in Great Britain, the Conservatives achieved the worst result in their recent history. Now a successor for former party leader Sunak is being sought.
Exactly two months to the day after their historic debacle in Great Britain, the Conservatives have begun electing a successor to party leader Rishi Sunak. In the first round in the parliamentary group, former Home Secretary and hardliner Priti Patel received the fewest votes and was eliminated. This means that there are still five candidates in the race.
The best performer was former Secretary of State for Migration Robert Jenrick, who was voted for by 28 of 121 MPs. The 42-year-old is campaigning for Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights in order to crack down on irregular migration.
In the parliamentary elections on July 4, the Conservative Party received its worst result in recent history. Party leader Sunak announced his resignation. For the first time in 14 years, the social democratic Labour Party has been in power in the United Kingdom with the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Five candidates still in the race
Former business minister Kemi Badenoch, who also belongs to the right wing of the party and performed best in a poll among party members, came in second place with 22 votes. Just behind her is former home secretary James Cleverly, a moderate representative. Tom Tugendhat, who was Secretary of State for Security under Sunak, and Mel Stride, most recently Minister for Employment, are also considered moderate candidates.
However, experts assume that the Conservative Party will move further to the right in response to the electoral success of the right-wing populist party Reform UK. Nigel Farage’s party, who once played a key role in driving forward Brexit, entered parliament for the first time with five members in the election at the beginning of July. However, analysts point out that the Tories also lost a lot of votes to the Liberal Democrats, especially in their home areas in southern England.
Elections in Great Britain
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In the case of the Tories, the 121 members of the conservative parliamentary group will now vote in several rounds in a process lasting several weeks until two candidates are left. The party base will then decide who it will be. The result will be announced on November 2nd.
The Tories had been torn apart by numerous scandals and constant personnel changes during their 14 years in government. Sunak was already the sixth Prime Minister since 2010.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
