Who’s Gonna be the Next UK PM? Here’s Who Could Replace Liz Truss

(CTN News) – On Thursday, Liz Truss resigned from the UK Prime Minister’s office, triggering another leadership race – the second in just four months.

Liz Truss quit after just 45 days in office and said her successor would be chosen in a leadership contest next week.

The next UK prime minister will be the fifth in six years.

Here are some potential contenders:

Rishi Sunak, former Treasury chief

During the last Conservative leadership race, Sunak got 60,399 votes to Liz Truss‘ 81,326.

In July, he quit as Treasury chief to protest Boris Johnson. He called Liz Truss’ and other rivals’ promises to cut taxes immediately reckless “fairy tales” in his bid to replace Johnson.

The British pound tanked in September when Liz Truss’ unfunded tax-cutting economic stimulus package triggered market chaos.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Sunak guided Britain’s economy through a slump. He helped businesses and workers hit hard by COVID-19 with billions of pounds in government handouts.

During the recent cost-of-living crisis, he faced heavy criticism for being slow to act.

Sunak was born to Indian immigrants from East Africa who moved to Britain. He went to Winchester College private school and studied at Oxford.

His work for Goldman Sachs and a hedge fund makes him seem out of touch with ordinary people.

Penny Mordaunt, House of Commons leader

Mordaunt, 49, finished third after Sunak and Liz Truss in the last Tory leadership contest. She didn’t hold a cabinet position under Johnson and positioned herself as a clean break from his scandal-tainted administration.

Former international trade minister Mordaunt is popular with Conservatives. Some think she could help heal the party’s divisions.

Outside of Conservative circles, she’s best known for appearing on the 2014 reality show Splash!

Mordaunt played a big role in the Brexit campaign. As British defense secretary in 2019, she was the first woman – but Johnson fired her after just three months because she backed Jeremy Hunt for party leader.

Suella Braverman, ex-home secretary

The 42-year-old resigned after a scathing letter criticizing Liz Truss’ “tumultuous” premiership. The move sparked a chaotic night in British politics, ending with Truss resigning.

Braverman became England’s attorney general in 2020 and was the first to throw her hat in the ring during this summer’s leadership race.

In her short time as home secretary, a top government job overseeing immigration and counterterrorism, Braverman promised to crack down on asylum seekers, saying it was her “dream” to see refugees deported to Rwanda.

Also, she wanted the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

She made headlines when she complained recently in Parliament that travel disruptions caused by strikes should be blamed on left-wing, “tofu-eating wokerati.”

Ben Wallace, defence secretary

Wallace, 52, is popular in the Conservative Party. Especially among Conservative legislators who pushed for the UK to spend more on defense, he’s won admirers for his straight talk.

Wallace has become a key voice in Britain’s response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. However, he recently said he wanted to stay.

When asked if he wanted the top job, he reportedly said, “I want to be the secretary of state until I finish.”

Boris Johnson, former UK prime minister

On Thursday, the 58-year-old Johnson was heavily rumored to return to office and run for prime minister again – just weeks after he was forced out.

Several conservative allies of Johnson backed Liz Truss’s return within hours of his resignation.

“The only person with a mandate from the general public is Boris Johnson,” said Marco Longhi. “He’s the only one who can fulfill the mandate.”

Johnson’s victory in the 2019 general election was his promise to “get Brexit done.”

While COVID-19 restrictions were in place, he hosted alcohol-fueled parties at his official residence. Parliament’s privileges committee is investigating whether he lied to legislators about COVID rule-breaking at Downing Street.

After former allies in his cabinet joined a mass exodus of government officials protesting his leadership, he resigned on July 7.

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