Identifying the favorite in the field who now has 11 people to become the next Conservative leader is a tricky business. But when it comes to naming the candidate with the least hope of success, one name stands out above all others: Rehman Chishti.
It is not unfair to say that even for the people of Gillingham and Rainham, whom he has represented in parliament since 2010, Chishti is not much of a family name, and would not have been in the minds of many locals if they had considered who he would have been. to replace Boris. Johnson.
When he entered the Commons at just 31, the former lawyer was appointed in various profiles as the new deputy to be considered, even one called him a potential future prime minister.
But in the years since then, Chishti has remained firmly on the back benches, lifting only a brief stint as vice president of the Conservative party and a year as Boris Johnson’s special envoy for religious freedom.
It was only last week that he finally achieved ministerial status, becoming a third-level minister in the State Department, as the mass of resignations that eventually forced Johnson to resign forced No. 10 to draft. a series of newcomers.
Born in Pakistan, Chishti grew up in Kent and, after studying law and becoming a lawyer, spent a period as an adviser to Benazir Bhutto when she was the Pakistani Prime Minister. Back in the UK, he became a councilor and then a Member of Parliament.
While he supported Johnson in becoming prime minister in 2019, Chishti resigned as special envoy in 2020 for the internal markets bill, which gave ministers the power to unilaterally rewrite elements of the withdrawal agreement. of Brexit with the EU.
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His candidacy for prime minister, which seems to be based more on raising his profile than on any realistic prospect of victory, promises “aspiring conservatism, new ideas, new team to start again pushing our great country forward.”
In a remarkably discreet launch video, posted on Facebook, the MP is in the windy field, where he talks about arriving in the UK at the age of six in 1984, unable to speak English, and policies that include lower taxes and a focus on better mental well-being. .