Britain is preparing to appoint its fifth prime minister in six years.
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LONDON – The UK is preparing to appoint a new prime minister this week – the fifth in six years – after Liz Truss resigns suddenlyJust need 44 working days.
Truss’ successor will again be decided by a Conservative Party leadership contest drawn from a short list of candidates.
This time, however, the process was fast-tracked over a one-week period, as the party sought to regain its credibility and reassure the market after the flood month of economic instability under Truss’ government.
Last weekend, two Tory hopes officially throw their hats into the ring for a stab at the top job. These include lead Rishi Sunak, who lost to Truss in the race for the lead in September, and Penny Mordaunt, who came in third.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who was sacked in the scandal three months ago – said Sunday, he withdrew from the race for the sake of party unityalthough previously stated to have the necessary support to participate.
The remaining two candidates have since rallied around members of parliament (MPs) to accumulate the minimum threshold of votes needed to run for the final election. Here’s how the race is expected to play out in the coming days – or, possibly, hours.
Monday 24, 2pm – MPs submit their nominations
The candidates have until 2pm London time on Monday to win the support of 100 MPs and thus will enter the vote for party leader.
This threshold is especially high when the party consists of 357 MPs and each person is only allowed to vote for one candidate. Therefore, the limit to the number of possible candidates is three.
As of 6 a.m. Monday local time, Sunak has garnered the public support of 155 MPs and Mordaunt has 25 nominations, according to BBC.
All MPs will have to submit their nominations, by email or signature, by the 2pm deadline, after which the results will be revealed.
As long as a candidate gets the required 100 votes, they automatically win the race and become Britain’s next prime minister.
Monday 24, 6 pm – First vote of MPs
If two or more candidates reach 100 nominations, the contest will conduct a nomination vote on Monday afternoon.
A first vote of MPs will be held from 3:30pm to 5:30pm, with the results to be announced at 6:00pm
Britain’s Conservative Party is pursuing a fast-paced version of the leadership race it waged earlier this year.
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If there are only two candidates during this period, it is assumed that the one with the fewest votes will resign to avoid an online vote among party members. But that is not guaranteed.
If there are three candidates, the one with the fewest votes will be eliminated and a second vote will be held.
Monday 24, 9 pm – Second vote of MPs
If required, a second nominating vote of MPs will be held from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, with the results to be announced at 9pm.
At that point, the candidate with the fewest votes can resign. Otherwise, the process will advance to a vote among party members.
Friday 28, 11 am – Party member voting ends
If the process drags on beyond Monday, Conservative Party members – who make up around 200,000 people representing 0.3 per cent of Britain’s population – will have until 11am on Friday to vote for their preferred candidate. them in an online vote.
This procedure will be a fast tracked version of the six-week process used to elected Truss on September 5.
Winner will be announced late Friday. King Charles of England would then ask them to form a government, making them the next prime minister in the process.
Monday 31 – UK fiscal budget?
The new Prime Ministers will have just a few days to work through and announce their new Cabinet before the Finance Ministry’s fiscal budget is scheduled to be released on Monday 31 October.
The statement was closely watched by both Britons and international investors as newly appointed Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt attempted to remedy the devastation caused by the government of Truss and his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng.
However, questions remain as to whether the budget will continue as planned and, in fact, whether the incoming prime minister will retain Hunt in the role.
