UK Conservatives vote for Johnson replacement

London, Sep 2 (EFE).- Boris Johnson’s handover of power entered its final stage Friday as members of the ruling Conservative Party cast their votes to choose the United Kingdom’s next prime minister.

Party members, estimated to be over 160,000, can have their say via post or online with the result due to be revealed on Monday.

One of the two candidates who have made it this far in the process, current foreign minister Liz Truss and former finance chief Rishi Sunak, will officially take to the helm of the Conservative government on Tuesday.

Truss, who is seen as a Johnson loyalist, is the pollsters’ favorite to win the backing of the party.

Johnson, who was forced to resign in July following a long string of controversies and scandals relating to illegal lockdown parties, will make his departure official on Tuesday when he travels for an audience with Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle, her summer residence in Scotland.

In a break from tradition, it will be the first time in her 70 years on the throne that the queen meets with an outgoing prime minister at Balmoral rather than Buckingham Palace, in London, a decision that was made due to her mobility problems, the royal family has said.

Elizabeth will then invite Johnson’s successor to form a new government.

Once the handover is complete, the new head of government — Truss or Sunak — will return to Downing Street to unveil a new cabinet.

The final list of ministers is expected on Wednesday ahead of the weekly prime minister’s questions session in the House of Commons.

One of the pressing issues for the incoming prime minister will be to tackle the skyrocketing energy prices and inflation in the UK, which is threatening a widespread cost of living crisis. EFE

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