Johnson, Sunak among favorites to replace Truss

London, Oct 21 (EFE).- Former prime minister Boris Johnson and ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak are among the favorites to take over from the outgoing British prime minister Liz Truss as leader of the Conservative Party and head of government.

The Conservative Party has already opened the process to select a replacement for Truss, who announced her resignation on Thursday after just 45 days in power.

Candidates will have until 2pm local time on Monday to put their names forward, but will need the backing of 100 party colleagues to make it to the next round of the leadership race.

A number of Johnson loyalists have called on the ex-PM to return, claiming he is the only figure who holds a mandate having won the last general election.

Johnson was forced to resign this year after a series of scandals involving illegal parties during the Covid-19 lockdowns hit fever pitch and sparked a Tory rebellion.

He officially stepped down in early September, handing the reins to Truss after she saw off competition from Sunak in the leadership race over the summer.

Sunak is also tipped to vie for power this coming week.

Many Conservative Party lawmakers view him as the best position to tackle the energy price crisis and settle the market volatility sparked by the tax-slashing ‘mini’ budget put forward by the Truss government.

The parliamentary leader of the party, Penny Mordaunt, is another name in the mix for leader. She came third in the last leadership race, and went on to back Truss.

Candidates need to secure the support of 100 of the 357 Tory MPs to make the threshold Monday.

If no candidate secures enough votes, then the decision, once again, will be handed to Conservative Party members.

Opposition parties led by the Labour Party have called for general elections. EFE

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