The crowded field for UK PM’s post

In the wake of the forced resignation of British prime minister Boris Johnson, the race for the post has become crowded with 11 Conservative MPs, all of them Johnson’s ministerial colleagues, announcing their candidacy. The crowded field is led by former Chancellor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak, followed by former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, former attorney general Suella Braverman, chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee Tom Tugendhat, transport secretary Grant Shapps, Chancellor of Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi, defence minister Penny Mordaunt, and Jeremy Hunt, who contested against Johnson last time. The latest big name to enter the race is Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. A Conservative MP observed: “I shouldn’t be surprised by the ambitions and delusions of some of my colleagues, but I am. I expect we will narrow down the list of candidates very quickly.”

The major issue on the agenda of these candidates is that of taxes as Britain is going through an economic crisis of high inflation and what has been called the crisis of the cost of living. All the candidates except one are promising tax cuts. It is only Sunak who has said that it will be difficult to cut taxes and that fairy tale scenarios do not help. He argued in a campaign video he launched: “Do we confront this moment with honesty, seriousness and determination? Or do we tell ourselves comforting fairy tales that might make us feel better in the moment, but will leave our children worse off tomorrow?” What most of these candidates who propose tax cuts do not explain is as to how they will keep the health services which was crucial during the Covid pandemic. Leader of Opposition Labour Keir Starmer described the promises of the Conservatives prime ministerial candidates as “an arms race of fantasy economics” and their tax cut proposals and other measures amounted to 200 billion pounds, and there is no explanation of how they will be funded. Surprisingly, all the candidates are agreed on the controversial policy of sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

The promise of tax cuts is part of the traditional Conservative agenda, and some of them like Hunt want to cut corporate tax first, and Javid wants to reduce the contribution to National Insurance. But financial experts are warning that this might now work. Gavin Barwell, who was chief of staff of Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May, said, “(It) feels like this leadership election is dodging the key issue facing the Conservative Party: you can’t have (Margaret) Thatcher levels of taxation and Johnson’s level of spending.”

Meanwhile, the battle between the candidate is getting sharper and even bitter. Already, Javid has complained about “attack memos”. He said, “This isn’t the House of Cards or the Game of Thrones, and the people who are here just because they enjoy the game, they are in the wrong place. This is a time for pulling together, not apart.”

The Conservative Party will announce the process of electing the prime minister by Monday evening. The race will be whittled down to two candidates, and they will have to win the vote of 200,000 Conservative Party members. The vote will be exercised through a postal ballot.

Whoever succeeds Johnson will have a tough situation to handle, especially on the economic front. And they will not have much time either because the next general election will be due in early 2025. That leaves the new prime minister barely two years to set the house in order as it were, and also project a positive agenda for the future. It will be a difficult thing to do because the global economy is going through a rough patch, and it is only partly due to the war in Ukraine.