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UK leadership race: can Hong Kong-born Rory Stewart beat US-born Boris Johnson?

  • International Development Secretary Rory Stewart joins crowded race to replace PM Theresa May
  • Until now, Boris Johnson has been seen as the front runner

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Former British foreign secretary Boris Johnson (left) and Britain's International Development Secretary Rory Stewart (right). Photo: EPA/ AFP
Hilary Clarkein London

In an increasingly crowded contest for the next leader of the UK’s Conservative party, the Hong Kong-born son of a top British spy might just be the man to beat American-born Boris Johnson.

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That is if a British judge doesn’t stymie the former foreign secretary first by putting him behind bars.
There are 11 declared candidates for the prime minister’s job following Theresa May’s resignation last week after failing to garner cabinet support for a fourth try at passing her Brexit deal in parliament.

Until now Johnson has been seen as the front runner, followed by the current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the pro-Brexit Environment Minister Michael Gove, arch Brexiteer Dominic Raab and Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

But suddenly, the enigmatic International Development Secretary Rory Stewart is grabbing media attention with unprecedented “meet-the-people” walkabouts and gushing editorials by journalists who know him.

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“Rory Stewart is a paradox,” wrote the Conservative writer Ian Acheson in The Spectator.

“He lacks the dubious star quality of many of the big beasts parading through the studios, yet has life experience and achievements they could only dream of.”

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