UK candidates jostle to replace PM Boris Johnson in packed leadership race

The latest MPs include ex-health and finance minister Sajid Javid, current finance minister Nadhim Zahawi and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt

The number of declared contenders is now nine; Conservative Party members will elect a new party leader over the summer

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Britain’s former health secretary Sajid Javid is one of several candidates hoping to be Britain’s new prime minister. Photo: AP

Published: 2:17am, 10 Jul 2022Updated: 9:07pm, 10 Jul 2022

The contest to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gathered pace on Sunday as five more candidates declared their intention to run, with many pledging lower taxes and a clean start from Johnson’s scandal-ridden premiership.

Johnson on Thursday said he would resign as prime minister, after lawmakers and cabinet colleagues rebelled over his handling of a series of scandals, including breaches of lockdown rules in gatherings at his Downing Street office. He said he would stay on until a new leader was elected.

A member of a Conservative Party committee which sets the rules for leadership elections said on Sunday the final result would be announced in September.

Junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt officially declared she was running on Sunday, joining transport Secretary Grant Shapps, finance minister Nadhim Zahawi and former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid, who announced their candidacies for the leadership in time for the Sunday newspapers, taking the total to nine.

“This is a critical inflection point for our country. I believe that a socialist or socialist-led coalition government at the next election would be a disaster for the UK,” Mordaunt said in a statement. “We must win the next election.”

Rishi Sunak is one of the contenders to be Britain’s Prime Minister. Photo: Reuters

The Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee of legislators, which sets rules for the party in parliament, will set out the exact timetable after a meeting on Monday.