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More candidates join growing field of Conservatives vying to be UK PM

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Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak is the bookmakers’ favourite to become next UK PM.
Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak is the bookmakers’ favourite to become next UK PM.

UK: Four further candidates have joined the increasingly crowded field of Conservatives vying to succeed Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister, as the committee overseeing the contest looks to speed up the process of whittling down the numbers.

The Conservative Party’s so-called 1922 Committee of legislators will set out the exact rules and timetable for the contest next week, after Johnson was forced to quit by his own party.

Many lawmakers are pushing for a fast-tracked process.

On Saturday (July 9), Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi, and former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid became the latest Conservative lawmakers to officially declare they were putting themselves forward for the leadership, taking the total to eight, with at least two more still expected to join the race.

The Mail on Sunday said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss would launch her campaign on Monday with a promise to cut taxes and tackle the Cost-of-Living crisis, while one of her main rivals for the role, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, ruled himself out.

Several other candidates also promised tax cuts, putting them at odds with the bookmakers’ favourite, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, whose budget last year put Britain on course for its biggest tax burden since the 1950s. Hunt, a former Foreign Secretary and Health Minister who lost out to Johnson in the 2019 leadership race, and Javid, a former Finance Minister, both said as leader they would cut corporation tax to 15 per cent. Javid, whose resignation as Health Minister on Tuesday helped build pressure against Johnson to go, also said he would reverse an increase in social security contributions which took place in April.

– THE STRAITS TIMES

Monday, July 11, 2022 – 01:00











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