The election for the leadership of the Conservative Party and, consequently, for the new prime minister of the United Kingdom enters the decisive phase in August, when the party’s approximately 160,000 members will vote by mail for one of the two candidates who have passed the preliminary phases. of the process (in which only Conservative MPs voted): former Economy Minister Rishi Sunak, 42, and Foreign Minister Liz Truss, 47.
Both will be tasked with stabilizing the Conservative Party and the country after the tumultuous tenure of Boris Johnson, who announced his departure from office on July 7.
Owing to differing views on the conduct of the British economy, Sunak had left the Executive two days earlier. His departure was one of the first in a stampede of dozens of Johnson management employees, cornered by scandals and who saw no alternative but to resign.
Truss, in turn, remained in the government, although he has since said that the current prime minister will not be part of his administration if he wins.
Young candidates from the Conservative Party (at least compared to predecessors Theresa May, who was 59 when she became prime minister, and Boris Johnson, who was 55), Sunak and Truss have other similarities, such as their defense of Brexit and scandals. who almost compromised their careers, but now they will have the task of showing the base voter of the party their differences to get votes.
Sunak is the son of African immigrants of Indian descent and, if elected, would be the first Hindu to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He studied philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford and later was an analyst at Goldman Sachs and a partner in two hedge funds. He is married to Akshata Murthy, daughter of Narayana Murthy, an Indian billionaire who co-founded the information technology services company Infosys. The couple has two daughters.
The fiscal situation of Akshata and the revelations in the press that Sunak himself would be a beneficiary of funds in tax havens (he denies) created embarrassment in the first half of this year, when he was already Minister of Economy. Previously, he had been elected parliamentarian in 2015 and held other positions in the governments of Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
Economy minister since 2020, Sunak has coordinated the economic response to the pandemic and a £350bn package of government support has earned him high approval ratings, although inflation since late last year has taken some of those political dividends – as has a fine for involvement in Partygate, the scandal in which members of the British Executive gathered at parties during the lockdown while forbidding the population to do the same.
Also a former Oxford student, Truss was a leftist militant and even advocated the end of the monarchy, but later migrated to conservatism. She worked as an accountant at Shell and at the telecommunications company Cable & Wireless.
Married and mother of two, Truss was first elected to the British Parliament in 2010, but nearly lost support in her constituency two years later due to the revelation of an extramarital affair with Conservative MP Mark Field.
Truss remained in office and in the same year joined the Executive, where she held positions in the areas of Education, Environment and Agriculture, Justice, Economy, women’s policies and Foreign Affairs – she has been minister of this portfolio since September last year.
Unlike Sunak, who was a supporter of Brexit from the beginning, Truss defended the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union, but after the referendum in which the British population opted to leave the bloc, he changed his mind. She is aiming to become the country’s third female prime minister – the previous two, Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, were also Conservatives.
On September 5, the UK and the world will know which of the two will replace Boris Johnson. Sunak led the vote among lawmakers, but among the conservative base, Truss is the favorite: a poll carried out last week by the YouGov institute showed she has 54% of the votes, while her rival has 35%.
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