BSS :
Would-be successors to scandal-ridden British Prime Minister Boris Johnson were readying on Friday for what will be a prolonged battle, the day after an extraordinary exodus of Conservative ministers brought about their leader’s downfall.
Johnson resigned on Thursday as Tory leader, acknowledging that it was “clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party, and therefore a new prime minister”.
The leadership election is expected to take place over the coming months, and the victor will replace Johnson by the party’s annual conference in early October.
Defence minister Ben Wallace and Rishi Sunak — whose resignation as finance minister on Tuesday set off the chain of exits — were among the early frontrunners to take over, a YouGov survey of Tory members suggested.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, another potential contender, cut short a trip to Indonesia for a G20 meeting to fly back. So far Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat is the only person to officially announce their campaign, though Attorney General Suella Braverman and Brexiteer Steve Baker have both signalled interest.
In Johnson’s unrepentant resignation speech on Thursday he said he would stay on until his successor is found.
But calls are building for him to leave immediately, and for an acting leader to head the world’s fifth-largest economy.
