Will the Tories manage to regain their credibility before the 2024 general election and stay in power?
Karina Enfenjyan
In early July, Boris Johnson announced that he was stepping down as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as the Leader of the Conservative Party. The decision came after 50 government ministers resigned, including Johnson’s former closest supporters Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid.
Johnson’s reign, which began in late 2019, was by no means flawless. A series of mistakes, scandals and dishonesty, which the prime minister resorted to in his effort to retain his position at all costs, drastically decreased his ratings. The British public was outraged by the parties at 10 Downing Street, which were held during the peak of the nationwide lockdown in May 2020 and even on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021, when the entire country has plunged into mourning.
Who will be Britain’s next prime minister? It will be decided not by 47 million British voters, but only by the 160,000 members of the Conservative Party. In the UK, the prime minister is not directly elected. Instead, members of parliament are elected and the leader of the party with the most MPs forms the government. And since the Conservatives still have a large majority after Johnson’s victory in the 2019 election, his successor will simply inherit that majority and become head of government. Johnson will continue to carry out his duties until the Conservative Party elects a new leader.
In the last round of parliamentary voting, which took place on July 20, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (113 votes) and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak (135 votes) advanced to the final election for prime minister and Tory leader.
Millionaire Sunak who took over as Chancellor of the Exchequer in February 2020, soon found himself in the thick of coronavirus problems. And although he allocated 350 million pounds to support the national economy, the crisis was not overcome. Nevertheless, he has every chance of taking the prime minister’s chair.
Liz Truss promises the British public, once she wins the election, to be bold in making decisions designed to change the situation in the country for the better.
The results of the election will be known on September 5, during the final round of voting among the members of the Conservative Party.
The winner will face the hard work of being the leader of a divided party. Will the Tories manage to regain their credibility before the 2024 general election and stay in power (unless, of course, an early general parliamentary election is called), or will they still have to cede Downing Street to the opposition party?
