UK: Nine candidates enter race to succeed Boris Johnson

The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced his plans to resign as the country’s leader following growing calls from members of his party. Since then, nine people have announced their bids to succeed Johnson.

Reuters reports that the number of candidates who are launching their bids to succeed Johnson as prime minister has reached nine, as five more candidates announced their intentions to run over the weekend.

This follows Johnson’s announcement last week that he would be resigning as Prime Minister following growing calls to step down by members of his party and large swathes of resignations among his ministers, along with his response to the scandals under his administration.

Johnson said he would remain as prime minister until a new leader was elected.

A member of the Conservative Party Committee said Sunday that the final result would be announced in September.

Five candidates launched their prime ministerial bids on Sunday: Junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt, transportation secretary Grant Shapps, finance minister Nadhim Zahawi, and former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid.

“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,” said Mordaunt in a statement. “We must win the next election.”

The 1922 committee of legislators of the Conservative Party, which sets the rules for the party in parliament, will unveil the timetable following a meeting on Monday. Bob Blackman, who is an officer in the committee’s executive, said the nominations would close on Tuesday, which would be followed by a vetting process to narrow down the slate of candidates to a final two on July 21.

Among those who were favored to succeed Johnson was defense minister Ben Wallace, who became an emerging figure that would surpass Foreign Secretary Liz Truss as the most popular government official with Conservative Party members. However, Wallace said on Saturday that he does not intend to make a prime ministerial bid.

Wallace shared on Twitter that after some discussion with both colleagues and loved ones, he will not be joining the race to succeed Johnson. “It has not been an easy choice to make, but my focus is on my current job and keeping this country safe,” said Wallace.

Despite not running, Wallace has not said who he plans to back.