Ex-finance minister Sunak heads list of eight Tories vying to replace Boris Johnson

LONDON (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) - Rishi Sunak, whose resignation last week helped trigger Boris Johnson’s downfall, heads a final list of eight candidates seeking to become the next Conservative Party leader and UK prime minister.

The contenders needed the backing of 20 Tory MPs to secure a place in Wednesday’s (July 13) first round of balloting. Senior Conservative lawmaker Graham Brady confirmed the names at a briefing in Westminster.

On a day of moves in Westminster, the high-profile candidate Grant Shapps withdrew and threw his support behind the early front-runner Sunak, who has the most publicly-declared support from Tory MPs.

Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid also pulled out, as did the relatively unknown Rehman Chishti.

Home Secretary Priti Patel announced she would not stand, a move seen by many as a boost for Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s bid to be the preferred candidate of the low-tax, Thatcherite wing of the Conservative Party.

Conservative MPs are due to cast their ballots from 1.30pm (6.30am Wednesday, Singapore time), with the result of the first round to be announced at 5pm.

The candidate with the least support is knocked out, along with anyone receiving fewer than 30 votes. 

The second round of voting is scheduled for Thursday, with further rounds next week following television debates arranged for the weekend. 

The Conservatives want the contest to be as rapid as possible, given the longer it goes on, the more the candidates’ attacks on each may impact the views of the wider electorate. The aim is to have a final two before July 21.

At that point, the process shifts to the estimated 175,000 grassroots party members who get the final say in who enters No. 10 Downing Street in September.

In that phase, it’s not Sunak but Trade minister Penny Mordaunt who currently leads the way, according to a ConservativeHome survey.

Mordaunt will formally launch her leadership bid on Wednesday.

Sunak would also lose to Kemi Badenoch, who has the backing of Conservative big-hitter Michael Gove and is seen as a rising star of the Tory right, Truss and Attorney General Suella Braverman in a head-to-head vote among grassroots Tories, according to the ConservativeHome findings.

So far, the debate between the leadership candidates has focused on tax cuts, with many candidates trying to out-do each other in a bid to appeal to the Tory right, just as Johnson tried to do whenever his position came under pressure. 

But Sunak used his campaign launch to hit back at his Tory rivals, who he said were combining unrealistic tax pledges with spending promises.

“Once we have gripped inflation, I will get the tax burden down,” Sunak said in a speech in London on Tuesday. “It is a question of ‘when’, not ‘if’.”

On Monday, the 1922 Committee of Conservative Members of Parliament agreed the rules for the contest, saying the field will soon be whittled down with repeated votes in the next few weeks and the final two being presented to the party by July 21.

It said the winner, and Britain's new prime minister, would be announced on Sept 5.

The main opposition Labour Party will put forward a motion of no confidence in the government on Tuesday to try to force Mr Johnson out of office straightaway.

The vote will be held on Wednesday and although some Conservatives have voiced concern at Mr Johnson remaining as prime minister, they are very unlikely to support it.

The new leader will have to reverse evaporating support.

A survey by Savanta ComRes on Monday put Labour at 43 per cent compared with 28 per cent for the Conservatives, its biggest poll lead since 2013.