After the prime minister resigned as Tory leader in the wake of a spectacular cabinet coup, Tory MPs are vying for the job to succeed Boris Johnson.
Suella Braverman, the attorney general, and Brexit supporter Steve Baker have already expressed interest in running for the leadership. Now Tom Tugendhat has joined them.
Till a replacement is selected by the fall, Mr. Johnson intends to continue serving as prime minister. He has a new cabinet line-up, despite calls from opposition parties and some Tories for him to go immediately.
Education Secretary James Cleverly, a recently appointed minister, asserted that there was no need to name a “caretaker” leader as some Tories had urged.
In a “perfect scenario,” Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the treasurer of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, predicted that Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab would take over for a few weeks, but “that ship has sailed.”
The new prime minister should take office by September, according to a timeline for the Conservative leadership contest that is set to be announced next week.
Although a vote of no confidence would require significant support from Conservatives to pass, the Labour Party has promised to try and swiftly remove the prime minister.
Read Also: British PM Boris Johnson resigns
He trying to hang on for the next few months is utterly unacceptable, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner told the BBC.
In a letter published in the Daily Telegraph on Friday, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, Mr. Tugendhat, announced his intention to run for prime minister, pledging tax reductions and “fresh energy and ideas” for the federal government.
Attorney General Ms. Braverman has already declared her intention to run, and former Brexit Minister Mr. Baker said he was “seriously” thinking about it after being urged to do so.
According to reports to the BBC, former cabinet members Sajid Javid and Grant Shapps rebelled against Mr. Johnson and are also thinking about running.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, ex-Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak are among those who are rumored to be running.
More announcements are expected in the next several days, although a number of senior Tories, including former Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, and former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, have already said they will not be running.