And they’re off… Leadership contenders jostle for position as Ben Wallace tops Tory poll and Liz Truss flies back early from Indonesia with Rishi Sunak emerging as bookies’ favourite to succeed Boris as PM
The resignation of Boris Johnson as Tory leader after ministers and MPs made clear his position was untenable has led to much discussion over who could replace him.
Bookmakers are currently making Rishi Sunak – who quit as Chancellor only two days ago – and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab joint favourites at 4/1.
But there are a series of other potential frontrunners to replace Mr Johnson as Prime Minister, such as Penny Mordaunt and Ben Wallace who are both at 5/1.
Others on the list include Sajid Javid – the most experienced candidate having served as Home Secretary and Chancellor – and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss at 7/1. Also in the running is Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi at 8/1 and Jeremy Hunt at 10/1.
It comes as a YouGov survey of 716 Tory party members shows a diverse field in the race to replace Mr Johnson – but Mr Wallace the clear favourite in head-to-heads.
Mr Wallace tops the overall list in the snap poll at 13 per cent, just ahead of Ms Mordaunt at 12 per cent, Mr Sunak at 10 per cent and Ms Truss at 8 per cent.
But Mr Wallace then wins all of his match-ups by wide margins – with his closest competitor being Mr Sunak, whom he sees off by 51 per cent to 30 per cent.
Find out more here about the top eight candidates in the race to become PM:
=1. RISHI SUNAK (4/1)
The former Chancellor’s rise from relative obscurity to household name over a few years came as he turned on the spending taps to protect jobs through the furlough scheme when the coronavirus pandemic struck.
His calm and measured delivery during televised Covid briefings, and his viral declaration of being a ‘total coke addict’ when talking about Coca-Cola, will have endeared him to those perhaps not always plugged in to the political goings-on, as well as his resignation on matters of principle on Tuesday.
He said that the British public ‘rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously’.
Mr Sunak was also praised for his Covid economic rescue package, including the costly furlough jobs retention programme that averted mass unemployment. But he later faced criticism for not giving enough cost-of-living support to households.
And his stock was also damaged by disclosures that his wife had non-dom status for tax purposes, and a fine he received along with the PM for breaking lockdown rules.
In addition, his tax-and-spend budget last year put the country on course for its biggest tax burden since the 1950s, undermining his claims to favour lower taxes.
=1. DOMINIC RAAB (4/1)
Dominic Raab – who is the joint favourite with Mr Sunak to take over as PM – was appointed Deputy Prime Minister last September, having been first elected as a Conservative MP in May 2010.
He was also Brexit Secretary from July to November 2018, Housing Minister from from January to July 2018, and Justice Minister from June 2017 to January 2018.
Before going into politics, the father-of-two worked as a business lawyer at City law firm Linklaters, focusing on project finance and competition law.
He did not quit the Cabinet amid the series of resignations this week, with a source close to him saying he was ‘loyal’ to Boris Johnson.
After it emerged the PM would quit, Tory peer and pollster Lord Hayward said he thinks there may be pressure for Mr Johnson to stand aside now and for Mr Raab to become acting prime minister.
Dominic Cummings, formerly Mr Johnson’s right-hand man but now one of his most fierce critics, also suggested that Mr Raab should stand in as a caretaker premier.
He said the Cabinet should give Mr Johnson an ultimatum and tell him that if he does not go, the Queen will appoint Mr Raab and ‘cops escort you from building’.
=3. PENNY MORDAUNT (5/1)
Another frontrunner with the bookies – currently third favourite – Ms Mordaunt made waves in 2019 as the UK’s first female defence secretary.
But she was fired by Boris Johnson shortly after he became Prime Minister, after she endorsed his rival Jeremy Hunt during the last leadership contest.
Ms Mordaunt is also a Royal Navy reservist, the current trade minister and a former reality television contestant, having appeared on the Tom Daley-fronted diving show Splash.
She played a prominent role in the Leave campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and has previously reportedly enjoyed the backing of Dame Andrea Leadsom among others.
Currently a junior trade minister, Mordaunt called the lockdown-breaking parties in government ‘shameful’. She had previously expressed loyalty to Mr Johnson.
=3. BEN WALLACE (5/1)
The Defence Secretary has won admirers in Westminster for his straight-talking and straightforward approach, particularly among Conservative MPs who pressed for the UK to increase its defence spending, although cuts to the size of the Army remain a cause for concern.
Mr Wallace, who served in the Scots Guards, remains a key voice in the UK’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and this increased exposure could assist any leadership bid.
He has consistently supported Mr Johnson, but has pressed the case for increased defence spending.
The former soldier was mentioned in dispatches in 1992 for an incident in which the patrol he was commanding captured an Irish Republican Army guerrilla unit suspected of trying to carry out a bomb attack on British troops.
He began his political career as a member of Scotland’s devolved assembly in May 1999, before being first elected to the Westminster parliament in 2005.
He was security minister from 2016 until taking on his current role three years later, winning plaudits as his department evacuated British nationals and allies from Afghanistan last year, and for sending weapons to Kyiv.
=5. SAJID JAVID (7/1)
Like Mr Sunak, Mr Javid’s resignation on Tuesday caused chaos in Number 10, as the Health Secretary from famously humble beginnings left the Government.
State school-educated Mr Javid – known as ‘The Saj’ in some circles – is the son of a bus driver who arrived in England from Pakistan in the 1960s.
He held ministerial roles in housing, business and culture before becoming Chancellor, and then Health Secretary in the middle of the pandemic.
Mr Javid made it to the final four in the contest to replace Theresa May as Tory leader in 2019, but dropped out and subsequently endorsed Mr Johnson.
He told reporters after his resignation on Tuesday evening that he was looking forward to spending time with his family – but that was before Mr Johnson also decided to quit.
A former banker and a champion of free markets, Mr Javid is also a known admirer of Margaret Thatcher.
6. LIZ TRUSS (7/1)
The Foreign Secretary has made little secret of her leadership ambitions, with a series of high-profile interventions and photo opportunities in which she appeared to be channelling late prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Among these was when she was photographed in a tank last year, echoing a famous 1986 photo of Britain’s first female prime minister.
Her hard line on Ukraine, insisting Russian forces must be driven from the country, and threats to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU, play well with sections of the party.
The 46-year-old spent the first two years of Mr Johnson’s premiership as international trade secretary, championing Brexit, and last year was appointed as Britain’s lead negotiator with the European Union.
Away from politics, Ms Truss’s flair for social media has seen her offer an insight into life outside of Westminster by updating her Instagram account with pictures of her relaxing at the beach, or behind the scenes at official events, though her passions combined to bizarre effect in 2014 when her improbably enthusiastic speech about opening pork markets in Beijing went viral.
She is seen as the darling of the Conservative Party’s grassroots and has regularly topped polls of party members carried out by the website Conservative Home.
Ms Truss had said on Monday that Mr Johnson had her ‘100 per cent backing’ and she urged colleagues to support him.
Sources close to her today said that she is cutting short an official trip to Indonesia and will issue a statement shortly.
7. NADHIM ZAHAWI (8/1)
The former education secretary is regarded by some as a ‘safe pair of hands’ if other candidates prove too divisive – indeed he was the man trusted to take on the broadcast round of interviews yesterday morning, on his first full day in his new job as Chancellor.
But asked if he will run for leader when there is a vacancy, he said: ‘There is no vacancy.’
Mr Zahawi, whose personal story as a former refugee from Iraq who came to Britain as a child sets him apart from other contenders, was a successful businessman before entering politics.
He came to wider prominence as vaccines minister during the pandemic where he was credited with playing a key part in the successful rollout of the jab, which was one of the world’s fastest schemes.
He co-founded polling company YouGov before entering parliament in 2010. Mr Zahawi said last week that it would be a ‘privilege’ to be prime minister at some stage.
This morning, he urged Boris Johnson to resign, saying on Twitter: ‘Prime Minister, you know in your heart what the right thing to do is, and go now.’
8. JEREMY HUNT (10/1)
The former foreign secretary and ex-health secretary has been a persistent backbench critic of Boris Johnson and had called on the Prime Minister to quit.
Mr Hunt, 55, is widely expected to make a fresh bid for the leadership, having been runner-up to Mr Johnson in 2019, and is among the early favourites with bookmakers.
As chairman of the Commons Health Committee, he has used his position to make a number of critical interventions on the Government’s handling of the pandemic, although his strong support for lockdown measures will not have pleased all Tory MPs.
Observers believe Mr Hunt would offer a more serious and less controversial style of leadership after the turmoil of Mr Johnson’s premiership.
He has not been tarnished by having served in the current government – and earlier this year, he said his ambition to become prime minister ‘hasn’t completely vanished’.
Mr Hunt said he voted to oust Johnson in a confidence vote last month that the prime minister narrowly won.
Ben Wallace tops an overall YouGov survey of Tory party members today at 13 per cent, just ahead of Penny Mordaunt at 12 per cent, Rishi Sunak at 10 per cent and Liz Truss at 8 per cent
Ben Wallace then wins all of his match-ups in the YouGov survey by wide margins – with his closest competitor being Rishi Sunak, whom he sees off by 51 per cent to 30 per cent
And here are three other potential candidates further down the bookmakers’ list, who have all said or suggested that they would like to run for Conservative leader:
STEVE BAKER (10/1)
Prominent Brexiteer and former minister Steve Baker, a senior Tory backbencher, confirmed today that he is seriously considering putting himself forward for the top job.
He told Times Radio that people are asking him to do it, and it would be ‘dismissive and disrespectful’ if he did not heed expressions of support, though he said he regards the prospect with ‘something akin to dread’.
Mr Baker successfully plotted to oust Theresa May as prime minister but, despite his credentials as a Brexit die-hard, he is not a household name.
TOM TUGENDHAT (12/1)
The polyglot chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee became the first to announce his intention to stand for leader should Mr Johnson be turfed out – with his declaration made in January.
A Remainer in 2016, the former soldier has been a trenchant critic of Mr Johnson – a stance that would appear to have cost him any chance of ministerial preferment under the current leadership.
He recently sought to distance himself from a call by his fellow Remainer, Defence Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood, for the UK to rejoin the EU single market.
SUELLA BRAVERMAN (40/1)
The Attorney General launched an unlikely leadership bid as support for Mr Johnson crumbled around him last night.
Previously loyal to the departing premier, she told Peston on ITV that he had handled matters ‘appallingly’ in recent days and ‘the balance has tipped now in favour of saying that the Prime Minister – it pains me to say it – but it’s time to go’.
Ms Braverman, who was first elected as an MP in 2015, is regarded as something of an outsider for the leadership given the party grandees already tipped to be in the running.
The odds above are the best price available across all major UK bookmakers as of 10am today, taken from Oddschecker
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