Conservative MPs are preparing to cast votes to decide the future of Boris Johnson, after more than 54 of them sent letters saying they did not have confidence in his leadership.
If the majority of his party decides to support him, according to the current rules of the party, he will be protected against new challenges for a year.
If he loses the vote, however, a leadership contest will be triggered, less than three years since he was first elected.
Here are the candidates who could run to replace him:
Until recent months, many Conservative MPs regarded the chancellor as the leader in the race to succeed Mr. Johnson.
An exclusive Sky News poll in January found that nearly half of Conservative members thought Rishi Sunak would be a better leader and could win more seats in the next election than Mr. Johnson.
But after introducing a number of policies, such as increasing contributions to national insurance, which fell badly with Conservative MPs, its popularity has fallen.
After receiving a fixed penalty notice for attending the Prime Minister’s birthday party during the confinement, his ability to separate from the party has been compromised.
Sunak has been at number 11 since early 2020, and has been directly elevated from a junior ministerial post to one of the most powerful in the cabinet following the surprise resignation of Sajid Javid.
Within weeks, COVID was affected and the chancellor took a leading role in the government’s pandemic response, announcing a series of measures to support workers and businesses.
The chancellor’s sleek social media graphics promoting his various policies have been seen as an attempt to build his personal brand and pave the way for a future leadership bid.
Sunak was elected in 2015, succeeding former Conservative leader Lord Hague at his Richmond headquarters in North Yorkshire.
He backed Brexit in 2016 and told his constituents at the time that it was the “toughest decision” of his political career.
The Secretary of State has long been considered a potential successor to Johnson and has been shown to be popular with Conservative party members in opinion polls.
Mrs. Truss, like Mr. Sunak, is widely seen to have laid the groundwork for a future higher-paying job with her social media production.
She has been a Member of Parliament since 2010 and began to rise in the ministerial ranks shortly after entering parliament.
She is currently the longest-serving member of the cabinet, having held positions under David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
“Liz Truss: The New Iron Lady?” read the headline of a profile piece in The Times just before Christmas.
Any comparison with Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990 and a figure adored by party supporters, will only help Mrs. Truss, who seems too willing to represent any resemblance.
The current chairman of the Select Committee on Health and Social Care was Boris Johnson’s rival in the second round of the last Conservative leadership election in 2019.
The dividing line in this contest was Brexit, and Johnson’s vote to leave the EU even without an agreement resulted in him winning 66% of the vote.
After the contest, Boris Johnson surprised many by dismissing Jeremy Hunt as Secretary of State.
Although it appears that Mr Hunt has come to enjoy his role as party major and chairman of a select committee, he has repeatedly refused to rule out another leadership candidacy.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
Sajid Javid has held almost all senior positions in the cabinet: he is currently Secretary of Health, but has served as Chancellor, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Housing, Secretary of Business and Secretary of Culture.
He previously ran for leadership with a joint ticket with former Cabinet Minister Stephen Crabb in 2016 and as a candidate in his own right in the 2019 race, but did not get enough support to make the second round.
Numerous profiles have been written about his remarkable background story: the son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver who lived above a shop in Bristol and became a high-flying investment banker. and then political.
He returned to Boris Johnson’s cabinet last summer after resigning dramatically as chancellor in early 2020 when he refused to allow the No. 10 to choose his team of advisers.
During her time on the back benches, she made an effort to present herself as a Thatcherite and was critical of some COVID measures, but her support for the Remain campaign in the Brexit referendum and recent support for the Plan’s measures B may discourage some Conservative MPs.
For a time, Priti Patel was seen as the darling of the Conservative base, with a proud right-wing stance on immigration and public spending.
She was one of the main sponsors of Boris Johnson’s 2019 leadership bid and was rewarded with being named Home Secretary.
But since taking on this role, it looks like his star has faded, as his management of small boat crossings on the canal is a source of significant criticism.
His popularity among the right wing of the parliamentary party means his candidacy should not be canceled, but questions about his handling of the Canal migrant crisis have likely affected his chances.
However, a report released in November 2020 by the then Prime Minister’s adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Alex Allan, had found that the Home Secretary had breached the ministerial code with conduct that was tantamount to school harassment.
Johnson canceled it, saying the code hadn’t been broken and he could keep his job.
Ms Patel issued an “unreserved apology to anyone who has been disturbed by anything that has happened”.
Dominic Raab served as acting Prime Minister when Boris Johnson was shot dead by COVID in the spring of 2020.
His current position as secretary of justice and deputy prime minister should put him, at least on paper, in a strong position to put his hat in the ring.
But his attempt to win the top job was unsuccessful in 2019, and many questioned the idea that he would be able to get enough support from Conservative MPs this time around.
He was considered fortunate to keep a job in government in the most recent reshuffle of Boris Johnson after heavy criticism of his response to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan while he was Secretary of State.
Currently serving as Secretary of State for the new leveling department, Michael Gove would be one of the most experienced candidates if he chose to run.
He has been at the heart of the Boris Johnson government throughout his tenure as prime minister, first heading the cabinet office and then taking responsibility for what the prime minister described as the centerpiece of his agenda.
But his decision to remove the carpet under Boris Johnson’s 2016 leadership bid, after he was initially its campaign president, has long lingered in the memory of Conservative MPs.
Names to watch out for
Leadership contests often see offers from politicians who don’t necessarily see themselves as favorites from the start, but who can sometimes gain strength as the race picks up momentum.
Tom Tugendhat, the current chairman of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, became the first to throw his hat in the ring as a candidate for Conservative leadership if Johnson leaves office.
Mr. Tugendhat, a former soldier, was critical of the government’s handling of the crisis in Afghanistan and could be a possible leader for the so-called One Nation Conservative wing, especially if Jeremy Hunt decides not to maintain it. if.
Announcing his future candidacy for leader, Tugendhat said it would be a “huge privilege” to serve as prime minister, a job he once described as winning the lottery.
And he added that anyone who can get the support of a group of colleagues should “go and do it” and it is up to “all of us to move forward.”
Although he has no ministerial experience, the name of Mr. Tugendhat is increasingly emerging as a viable option for the next Conservative Party leader.
The chairman of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs supported the campaign to stay in the EU, but voted loyally on Brexit issues under both former Prime Minister Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
He has opposed stricter coronavirus measures during the pandemic.
Nadhim Zahawi is another politician whom some believe could defend the leadership. After holding various minor ministerial positions, his success as Minister of Vaccines led him to be promoted to Secretary of Education in the most recent reshuffle of Boris Johnson.
Seen as a strong communicator and a relatively impeccable person compared to other cabinet ministers, many will be watching closely to see if Mr. Zahawi puts his hat in the ring.
When he was nine years old, Zahawi and his Iraqi Kurdish family fled Saddam Hussein in the United Kingdom and he explained how he could not read English at the age of 11.
In a deeply personal speech in October last year, Zahawi spoke about his own experiences in arriving in Britain as a refugee child and said that the UK “welcomed a young Kurd without a single English word and turned him into a cabinet minister. “
“Now it’s up to me to make sure the opportunities that transformed my life are available to all children in every corner of our great country,” he said.
Another potential candidate is Penny Mordaunt, who was ousted as Secretary of Defense when Boris Johnson came to power.
Having maintained a relatively low profile since returning to government as Minister of International Trade, she is seen as so popular among Conservative MPs and ambitious.
Ms Mordaunt, who some see as a possible dark horse for a future Conservative leadership contest, said she was “surprised by the stupidity of what happened” in Downing Street over the ongoing party dispute. .
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