Rishi Sunak the favourite as Conservatives enter race to succeed Boris Johnson
Several new contenders in the British Conservative Party's latest leadership race threw their hats into the ring going into the weekend, opening up the field to replace the departing Boris Johnson.
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) Rishi Sunak — whose resignation on Tuesday night along with health minister Sajid Javid triggered a flurry of others — is among the favourites for the job.
Sunak announced his leadership bid on Friday with a campaign video in which he promised to confront the difficult economic backdrop with "honesty, seriousness and determination", rather than piling the burden on future generations.
"Someone has to grip this moment and make the right decisions," he said.
Former UK Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch added her name to the list of contenders on Saturday. She was one of nearly 60 members of parliament and aides who resigned this week to force Johnson from office.
In an article in The Times newspaper, Badenoch called for change and said British opinion was "exhausted by platitudes and empty rhetoric".
Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat and Attorney General Suella Braverman have also officially announced their candidacies.
But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who had been considered a potentially strong contender, has pulled out of the race.
Former health and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, who lost to Johnson in 2019, was "pretty certain" to stand again, a source close to Hunt told British media.
The announcement of Rishi Sunak's candidacy won the immediate support of several MPs. He is also the preferred candidate among Conservative Party members, a quarter of whom favour him, according to the latest poll.
The ex-finance minister is followed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is backed by
Read more on euronews.com
