LONDON: Liz Truss said on Thursday (Oct 20) she was resigning as British prime minister just six weeks after she was appointed.
A leadership election will be completed within the next week to replace Truss, who is the shortest serving prime minister in British history. George Canning previously held the record, serving 119 days in 1827 when he died.
Given the divisions in the party there is no obvious candidate and any replacement would face a country likely heading into a recession. Leading names are below:
RISHI SUNAK
Truss easily beat the former chancellor of the exchequer in this summer's Tory leadership contest, winning party members over with promises to slash taxes and regulations without curbing government spending.
Sunak, 42, had warned that her plans to fund the proposals through extra borrowing were reckless and could worsen decades-high inflation as well as market confidence in the UK.
Now that he has been proved right, Sunak was installed by bookmakers as the early favourite following Truss's dramatic announcement.
He garnered the support of the largest number of Tory lawmakers in successive rounds of voting, before party members installed Truss.
A new YouGov poll on Tuesday found he has the best ratings of the touted alternatives to Truss - albeit still with an overall net favourability rating of -18.
But he is also now viewed as a divisive figure.
Many party members, who usually get the final say on who leads the party, are unwilling to forgive him for his role in ousting ex-prime minister Boris Johnson.
BORIS JOHNSON
The former premier left office early last month after a revolt among his cabinet and Tory MPs, sparked by the resignation of Sunak and others from his faltering government following months of controversies.
Encouraged by several strong hints from Johnson himself, speculation has swirled ever since that he would attempt an eventual comeback - though few thought that could be feasible this quickly.
The Times reported after Truss's demise that he was planning to enter the race.
The ever-ebullient Brexit figurehead remains popular with a section of Conservative MPs and the party. But his brand among the wider electorate was severely damaged by his scandal-tainted three-year tenure.
A recent YouGov poll showed the 58-year-old is far more popular than Truss. Yet around two-thirds of those asked had an unfavourable opinion of him.
Johnson has kept a low profile since resigning, giving a paid speech in the United States last week but no indications of his views on the current crises gripping the UK.
He was thought to favour Truss in the summer leadership contest - although his former top aide-turned-arch-critic Dominic Cummings argued that this was because he expected her tenure to be disastrous and short-lived, paving the way for his return.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiWWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvd2hvLWNvdWxkLWJlY29tZS11ay1uZXctcG0tbGl6LXRydXNzLXJlc2lnbi0zMDE3OTYx0gEA?oc=5
2022-10-20 15:35:00Z
1603548064
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar