Most applicants promise to reduce taxes and contributions
Ethnic, social and gender diversity is guaranteed in the election of the next head of government and leader of the British Conservative Party, which will officially start this Tuesday. Nine deputies had declared their intention to participate in the ‘tories’ primaries by Sunday and more candidates are still expected. Among the laggards is Foreign Minister Liz Truss, who was surprised by the crisis in Boris Johnson’s leadership in Indonesia, where she attended the G20 summit. Her campaign was gearing up behind the scenes as she claimed in Twitter messages that the “PM has made the right decision” to relinquish power.
Johnson gave in on July 7 after facing a domino of resignations from members of his cabinet and government. He reluctantly accepted the “will” for change imposed by his parliamentary colleagues, although he challenged them by remaking the government team that he is determined to lead until the appointment of his successor. The process could extend until September.
Restoring confidence in the political elite is a constant in the preamble to the campaign to replace a leader, who is criticized for his lack of integrity in public functions. “Our leadership has to change. It needs to turn a little less on the leader and a lot more on the ship », proclaims the former Minister of Defense, Penny Mordeaunt, in the video that she released on social networks. “A new beginning in order to restore confidence,” former soldier Tom Tugendhant declared on television, the only one of those declared who does not have ministerial experience.
Mordeaunt asks for the vote of those who trust her, even if they do not share all her beliefs. He leads his gender colleagues in terms of support from the group of 358 parliamentarians, who will do the fundamental screening of candidates in the first phase of the electoral process. The Royal Navy reservist and Secretary of State was supported by 18 deputies this Sunday, six more than those who had nominated Truss. At a distance walked Kemi Badenoch, with ten nominations for his promise to “tell the truth” and reduce government to “essential” issues; and the Executive’s lawyer, Suella Braveman, with nine.
Ethnic diversity
Four women (including Truss) joined the fray along with six men in their ambition to follow Margaret Thatcher’s example. More surprising is the tie at five in ethnic diversity of the candidacies announced so far. Rishi Sunak, the second generation of Indian emigrants from Africa, accumulates the highest number of nominations in Westminster – 32, as of mid-afternoon this Sunday – and placed third in a poll among conservative militancy. A position above Mordeaunt entered and in the lead was Ben Wallace, Minister of Defense who has resigned from competing.
Sunak is distinguished by its economic program. He proposes caution and fiscal discipline in order to balance public finances after the catastrophe of Covid-19 and ‘Brexit’. The aid plan for companies and job subsidies during the pandemic, which he supervised as head of the Economy, shot up the debt to 15% of GDP, a ceiling not recorded since World War II. Instead, his successor in office, Nadhim Zahawi, of Turkish-Iraqi origin, proposes to cut taxes and increase defense spending. It is a strategy that is also defended by most of the other competitors, without indicating how they would finance their respective plans.
The dirty game begins to be denounced in the race for leadership, which will soon enter its ‘sprint’ phase. Sunak feels under fire from Johnson’s loyalists, who identify him as the traitor who brought down the prime minister by leaving his government on Tuesday the 5th. Zahawi is recognized as one of the richest deputies in Westminster – it is said that only Sunak surpasses him in economic fortune – and now the management of his businesses is being questioned in official investigations, according to media reports.
In turn, Mordeaunt suffered a setback as soon as the campaign launched. Paralympic athlete Jonnie Peacock asked him to delete a snapshot of his brilliant career at the 2012 London Games from the promotional video. Other users noted the presence in the same video of Oscar Pistorius, the South African convicted of murdering his partner. Both images were quickly removed from the audiovisual message of the candidate to lead the United Kingdom.
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