LONDON – Mr Boris Johnson and former finance minister Rishi Sunak are leading the potential contenders to replace outgoing British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday, with candidates canvassing support to become Conservative Party leader in a fast-tracked contest.

Ms Truss quit on Thursday, ending her six weeks in power.

Those who want to replace her are trying to find the 100 votes from Conservative lawmakers needed to run in a contest which the party hopes will reset its ailing fortunes.

With the Conservatives all but facing a wipeout in the next national election according to opinion polls, the race is on to become the fifth British premier in six years.

The winner will be announced on either Monday or Friday next week.

If Mr Johnson wins the race, it would be an extraordinary comeback for him, since he was ousted by lawmakers just over three months ago.

Now, he is running high up the ranks alongside Mr Sunak to be crowned the next prime minister.

“I think he’s got that proven track record to turn around things. He can turn it around again. And I’m sure my colleagues hear that message loud and clear,” Conservative lawmaker Paul Bristow said of Mr Johnson on LBC Radio.

“Boris Johnson is the character the Labour Party fears, Boris Johnson can win the next general election,” he said.

But Mr Johnson, who left office comparing himself to a Roman dictator brought into power twice to fend off crises, might face difficulty in reaching the 100 votes.

That is because his three-year tenure was blighted by scandals and allegations of misconduct.

One of his former advisers, who no longer speaks to Mr Johnson and requested not to be identified, said he is unlikely to reach the target, having alienated dozens of Conservatives during his scandal-ridden tenure.

But Mr Will Walden, who also worked for Mr Johnson, told Sky News the former prime minister is returning from holiday and is taking soundings.

The contest began on Thursday, just hours after Ms Truss stood in front of her Downing Street office to say she could not go on.

Meanwhile, Mr Sunak is the favourite with bookmakers, followed by Mr Johnson.

The former Goldman Sachs analyst became finance minister just as the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Europe.

Running in third is Ms Penny Mordaunt, a former defence minister popular with Conservative Party members.

Only Ms Mordaunt has formally declared her candidacy.

Truss quits

Ms Truss quit on Thursday after the shortest, most chaotic tenure of any British prime minister as her economic programme shattered the country’s reputation for financial stability and left many people poorer.

She said she could no longer carry out her programme after her economic plan roiled markets and ended up on the cutting room floor when she was forced to bring in a new finance minister.

“I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party,” said Ms Truss, who was supported only by her husband, with her aides and loyal ministers noticeably absent.

The sight of yet another unpopular prime minister making a resignation speech in Downing Street – and the start of a new leadership race – underscores just how volatile British politics has become since the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.

Some Conservative lawmakers hope the race to replace her will be quick and simple, urging the hopefuls to coalesce around one candidate to reduce the pain of another bruising contest.

Mr Sunak, proven right in his warnings that Ms Truss’ fiscal plan threatened the economy, is the favourite.

But he remains deeply unpopular with some Conservatives after he helped to trigger the summer rebellion against Mr Johnson.

Ms Mordaunt is seen as a fresh pair of hands largely untainted by earlier administrations. But she is also untested and, so far, she is lagging behind Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson in getting backers.

Whoever takes over the part has a mountain to climb to try to restore or renew the reputation of the Conservative Party.

It holds a big majority in Parliament and need not call a nationwide election for another two years.

“Whether or not a change of leader is going to be sufficient to make the Conservatives actually electorally credible is certainly highly debatable,” political scientist John Curtice told LBC.

“The problem for the Conservatives is that the brand of them as a party that can mind the economy... has now been very, very badly tarnished, and it may be very difficult to recover within the space of two years.” REUTERS