July 14, 2022
2:44 pm
Prime Ministers Questions
Catch-up
Conservative leadership race – Round 2 RESULTS – Key moments
Loyalty to Boris stopped me quitting – Liz Truss
Conservative leadership race: Ballot results at 5pm
PMQs Live – PM to face humiliating grilling from Sir Keir
Final shortlist for Tory leadership revealed after Sajid Javid drops out of race
Wide-open race for Tory leadership lays bare party divisions
Conservative MPs to begin voting in leadership race
Deadline to secure backers looms for Tory leader hopefuls
The Conservative leadership race - who will be the next PM?
Quick Summary
- There are currently 11 MPs who have announced their bid to succeed Boris Johnson – Liz Truss is the latest to throw her hat into the ring.
- We’re still waiting on an announcement from Priti Patel – many expect her to announce her bid today.
- Rishi Sunak remains the favourite to win.
- Contenders may need up to 36 supporters to move to round 2.
- The leadership contest is expected to be slimmed down to two by next Thursday.
- Boris Johnson has said he won’t publicly back a candidate as he doesn’t want to damage their chances.
In-depth analysis
Who’s in the race for PM?
Since the news Boris Johnson will step down as prime minister and leader of the Conservative party, plenty of Tory MPs have thrown their name into the ring. Some very obvious contenders have already announced their bids, some we’re still waiting on and some fairly unknown MPs have also announced their plans – we look at who’s in the race for PM?
- Rishi Sunak
- Tom Tugendhat
- Grant Shapps
- Penny Mordaunt
- Nadhim Zahawi
- Jeremy Hunt
- Sajid Javid
- Kemi Badenoch
- Suella Braverman
- Liz Truss
- Rehman Chishti
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We’re still waiting on an official announcement that Priti Patel will launch a bid to become the next leader of the Conservative party, and therefore the next prime minister.
- Who will replace Boris Johnson? The case for Rishi Sunak
- Read Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid resignation letters in full – and the PM’s response
https://www.instagram.com/p/CftO_HxIb5P/
Contenders may need up to 36 supporters to progress
Tory MP Bob Blackman – joint-executive secretary of the 1922 Committee, has said candidates will likely need at least 20 supporters to enter the first round of the Conservative leadership race, with potentially as many as 36 MPs needed in support to progress to round two.
He told Sky News: “The view is that candidates to get on the ballot paper should demonstrate a broad swathe of support amongst Conservative MPs.
“So we’re looking at a proposer, a seconder and either 18 supporters or possibly more supporters in order to reduce that list.
He then says the “first ballot is likely to have a threshold of 10% of the votes, i.e. 36 MPs, supporting a candidate for them to go through to the second ballot. That once again is not confirmed yet, but I suspect that will be the case.
“After that we probably won’t need thresholds because the list will shorten considerably.”
- Boris Johnson tells cabinet he ‘will not seek to implement new policies’ or ‘major fiscal decisions’ after resignation
- The 4 key events that saw Boris Johnson’s government fall
Leadership candidates thinned by next Thursday
He told Sky News that the candidates will be thinned down to the final two by next Thursday.
“The one thing that we’re committed to do is to achieve getting to two candidates by Thursday 21 July.
“That means that we’ll hold a succession of ballots over the next few days in order to get to that position.”
Ballots are expected to be held this Wednesday and Thursday and next Tuesday and Wednesday.
He also said the newly-elected 1922 Committee is set to meet on Monday evening to agree the process and timetable for the parliamentary side of the leadership contest.
How will the Tories actually choose a new leader?
So far 11 MPs have confirmed their bids to succeed Boris Johnson. Here’s how the Tories will choose their next leader, who then will become the next prime minister for at least the next two years (when a general election is due).
- The timetable for the Tory leadership race is due to be confirmed later today
- Under current rules, those putting themselves forward must initially have the backing of eight Tory MPs
- Tory MPs keep holding a series of votes until just two candidates remain
- The next stage is a wider postal ballot of the wider Conservative Party membership around 100,000 people
- The winner of the two becomes the new Tory leader and prime minister
PM will not back candidates to avoid ‘damaging’ their chances
The prime minister says he “wouldn’t want to damage anybody’s chances by offering my support” in the Conservative leadership race.
The PM spoke in public for the first time since announcing his resignation.
Boris Johnson said: “I’m determined to get on and deliver the mandate that was given to us, but my job is really just to oversee the process in the next few weeks, and I’m sure that the outcome will be good.
“We just need to get on… the more we focus on the people, on the people who elect us, on their jobs, their hopes and what they can get out of investment in science and technology.
“The more we talk about the future that we’re trying to build, the less we talk about politics in Westminster, the generally happier we will all be.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfrYR6cA8O9/
Asked if will be staying out the race, he said: “That’s not the job of the prime minister at this stage.
“The job of the prime minister at this stage is to let the party decide, let them get on with and to continue delivering on the projects that we were elected to deliver.
“And what I will say is that whoever is picked, I’ve no doubt will want to continue to support brilliant places like the Crick Institute.”
Asked about how his government collapsed last week, with ministers resigning en masse, he said: “I don’t want to say any more about all that.
“There’s a contest under way and it’s happened, and, you know, I wouldn’t want to damage anybody’s chances by offering my support.
“I just have to get on and, in the last few days or weeks of the job, the constitutional function of the prime minister in this situation is to discharge the mandate, to continue to discharge the mandate, and that’s what I’m doing.
“I think the reason we’re here today is because… science, technology – our natural genius in this area is one of the many, many things that is going to carry us forward and make sure that our our future is very bright.”
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Sunday Papers – The race for No 10, calls for massive tax cuts, Johnson ‘bitter’
This week’s Sunday Papers are heavily dominated by the Conservative leadership race – and what the hopefuls are offering up regarding their tax plans.
Keir Starmer cleared by police over lockdown beers
The Sunday Times- Tories tearing themselves apart over tax
Tories are “tearing themselves apart” over tax, The Sunday Times says. The paper reports Tory grandees have called for an end to the toxic briefing against Mr Sunak, who has been tipped as the front runner in the election race. The paper, which says tax is becoming the most divisive issue in the contest, reports that two former party leaders and a former chancellor have called for a ceasefire after allies of the PM accused Mr Sunak of treachery.
Sunday People – Foodbank cupboards are bare
The Sunday People reports that foodbanks are almost empty as Britons go hungry. The paper says as out-of-touch Tory politicians worth more than a combined £300 million clamour for the top job, eight in 10 food banks now rely on backup funds to feed ever-more desperate families.
Fourteen million Brits living in poverty face being plunged further into deprivation as the cost-of-living crisis worsens, with energy bills predicted to hit £3,363 a year.
Sunday Mirror – Keir: Bring on the general election
The Sunday Mirror leads with Labour’s call for a general election.
Writing in the paper, Sir Keir Starmer has called for a general election, saying: “Changing the person at the top isn’t going to clean out the rotten culture from throughout their party.” He has accused Mr Johnson of “squatting in Downing Street” while his colleagues jostle to replace him as prime minister, the paper notes.
He insists that a fourth new Conservative PM in six years would be a recipe for more high taxes and low growth. He claims the UK has a “zombie government” and needs a general election now.
The Sunday Telegraph – Javid and Hunt call for massive cuts to taxation
Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt have put tax cuts at the heart of their Tory leadership bids, The Sunday Telegraph reports. They have both pledged to cancel Rishi Sunak’s planned rise in corporation tax and instead reduce the proposed rate to 15%, the paper notes. It also says Mr Javid would scrap the controversial National Insurance hike which was introduced during his time as health secretary.
Sunday Express – New leadership to save Brexit
The Sunday Express leads with what it calls a “new battle to save Brexit”. Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned the Conservative Party that the people who betrayed Boris Johnson will “now seek to neuter Brexit”, the paper says.
The Observer – Bitter Johnson ‘trying to wreck Sunak’s bid to replace him’
The Observer leads with accusations that Boris Johnson is trying to sabotage Rishi Sunak’s bid to succeed him. As the leadership race continues, one party member has accused the PM of putting unsuitable MPs in middle and junior posts to try and cause “maximum problems for his successor”, the paper notes.
Mail on Sunday – Liz Truss: I’ll spike Sunak’s tax hike
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is tipped to launch her leadership bid in the next few days, the Mail on Sunday reports. She will promise to reverse Mr Sunak’s National Insurance hike and claim to be the only candidate who can emulate Mr Johnson’s election-winning skills and Conservative principles, the paper says.
Daily Star Sunday – Kinky aliens really got me
Meanwhile, the Daily Star Sunday leads with Dave Davies claiming how an alien force froze his groin. The Kinks star says: “They had command of my senses.”
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The Sun says Boris Johnson’s being lined up to become a special envoy to Ukraine. A source says this would allow him “an early and dignified exit from the ‘political tinderbox'”.
Elsewhere, the Telegraph describes the prime minister as “battered” and says that he’s considering leaving politics.
A picture of the Duchess of Cambridge features on the front page of several papers – following the Duchess’s appearance at Wimbledon.
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