Conventional wisdom declared that he had ruined his chances of ever becoming prime minister. This morning he is still the candidate with the most public endorsements from fellow MPs. However, he is by no means a supporter and there are two pieces of news this morning that should be worrying for his campaign.
Johnson’s allies are trying to prevent Sunak from becoming leader. The clearest sign of this in the Times, which quotes James Cleverley, the Johnson loyalist who was appointed education secretary last week, accusing Sunak of being finance minister and of “conspiring” against the prime minister. To defend his claim of conspiracy, Clever said:
I think what some have done is try to set up the conditions for a leadership contest. There are people like Liz [Truss] who stand up for the government’s decisions, work hard every day, making sure the government does what it needs to do. People will draw their own conclusions about who is fully committed. He also cleverly said that, as chancellor, Sunak was a “representative of Treasury officials”. He continued: We followed an economic policy that many people found difficult to differentiate from what a Labor government would do. We need to make it clear that you cannot continue to impose taxes to solve every challenge, you need to unlock economic growth. In their story, the Times also reports that Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit opportunities minister, and Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, are both set to back Truss as the Tory right-wing candidate to stop Sunak. Rees-Mogg and Dorries were consistently Johnson’s most loyal cheerleaders.
A survey of Conservative party members for the website ConservativeHome shows that only around 12% of members favor Sunak as their first choice candidate to succeed. Penny Mordaunt comes top of the survey but is only at around 20% and perhaps what is most important in the survey is what it suggests members want someone new, not associated with Johnson’s cabinet. This is from Paul Goodman, the editor of ConservativeHome, in his analysis of the results.
Perhaps the reason is that some of them were involved in the ousting of Boris Johnson. Or maybe it’s that others tried to keep him. Or maybe it’s just that yesterday’s candidates are old, in a culture that prizes flair and innovation. But whatever the explanation, the top two in the charts in ConservativeHome’s first follow-up survey of Tory leaders since Ben Wallace quit the contest are not members of the current cabinet at all. So far the Conservative leadership campaign has consisted of Sunak saying he will not tell “comfort tales” about the economy, while almost every other candidate has promised tax cuts almost immediately, with little or no indication of how they might deliver. be financed. . In his presentation today, Sunak will say he wants tax cuts too – but only when inflation is under control. Here’s our preview story. Here is the agenda for the day. Morning: Boris Johnson chairs the Cabinet. 11 am: Rishi Sunak launches his campaign. 11am: Tom Tugendhat makes his campaign launch. 11am: Kemi Badenoch takes part in a Q&A at the Institute for Government. 11:00: Sir John Major, the former Conservative prime minister, gives evidence to the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee on good governance in light of Greensill. 10pm: Nominations close for leadership candidates. To stand in the first ballot tomorrow, MPs will need the support of at least 20 colleagues. I’m trying to follow the comments below the line (BTL) but it’s impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, include “Andrew” somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I try to answer questions and if they’re of general interest I’ll post the question and answer above the line (ATL), though I can’t promise I’ll do it for everyone. If you want to get my attention quickly, it’s probably best to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow. Alternatively you can email me at [email protected] Updated at 09.30 BST Important events: Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Last night the Conservative 1922 Committee confirmed that candidates will need to have at least 20 nominations to be on the ballot in the first round of voting tomorrow. According to Politico’s count (which includes Tory MPs who have hinted they will run, as well as candidate statements), Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat have already cleared the 20-nomination barrier. MPs endorse Tory leadership candidates Photo: Politico Grant Shapps, the transport secretary and Tory leadership candidate, said that as prime minister he would increase defense spending to 3% of GDP. In an article for The Times he said: We have shown that this country, far from being detached from Europe after Brexit, is more than ever a necessary component of European stability. A pillar of the NATO alliance, the most successful collective security exercise in history. But freedom is not free. There is a cost. That is why, as Prime Minister, I will increase defense spending to 3% of GDP, as opposed to the 2% minimum recommended by NATO. Updated at 09.35 BST
Why are Labor submitting a motion of no confidence in the government?
As my colleague Alexandra Topping reports, Labor plans to table a motion of no confidence in the government to be debated tomorrow. Distrust discussions are relatively rare. As this Commons library note explains, the last was in 2019, but it was the first since 1994. It is important to remember that they fall into two categories. Sometimes the opposition table a motion of no confidence in the hope of persuading government MPs to abstain or vote against so they can bring down the government. But sometimes no-confidence motions are tabled with the aim of persuading government MPs to vote for an unpopular government. This is what Tony Benn wrote in his diaries in November 1990 when Margaret Thatcher was challenging the government. Labor is of course keen to keep Thatcher and Kinnock tabled a motion of impeachment against her on Thursday to try to consolidate Tory support around her. It is a shame that in eight years this is the first motion of censure. Labor says it is tabling the motion because it wants Boris Johnson out of office by the end of the week. But there is no chance of the motion being passed because, while Tory MPs may not want Johnson to remain Prime Minister, they do want a Tory government to remain in power and the debate will be about confidence in the government. Instead, the debate will give Labor campaign ammunition because it will allow the party to say (justifiably) that Tory MPs voted to keep Johnson in office (if only for a few more weeks). Updated at 09.33 BST
Boris Johnson’s allies launch bid to stop Sunak as probe casts doubt on ex-chancellor’s leadership chances
Good morning. Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, later launches his campaign for the Tory leadership. At one point he was seen as the clear favorite to succeed Boris Johnson and the best candidate to help the Conservatives defeat Labour, but his reputation collapsed earlier this year after his spring statement failed and a row broke out over his wife’s non-domicile status. and the fact that he had a US green card when he became chancellor. Conventional wisdom declared that he had ruined his chances of ever becoming prime minister. This morning he is still the candidate with the most public endorsements from fellow MPs. However, he is by no means a supporter and there are two pieces of news this morning that should be worrying for his campaign.
Johnson’s allies are trying to prevent Sunak from becoming leader. The clearest sign of this in the Times, which quotes James Cleverley, the Johnson loyalist who was appointed education secretary last week, accusing Sunak of being finance minister and of “conspiring” against the prime minister. To defend his claim of conspiracy, Clever said:
I think what some have done is try to set up the conditions for a leadership contest. There are people like Liz [Truss] who stand up for the government’s decisions, work hard every day, making sure the government does what it needs to do. People will draw their own conclusions about who is fully committed. He also cleverly said that, as chancellor, Sunak was a “representative of Treasury officials”. He continued: We followed an economic policy that many people found difficult to differentiate from what a Labor government would do. We need to make it clear that you cannot continue to impose taxes to solve every challenge, you need to unlock economic growth. In their story, the Times also reports that Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit opportunities minister, and Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, are both set to back Truss as the Tory right-wing candidate to stop Sunak. Rees-Mogg and Dorries were consistently Johnson’s most loyal cheerleaders.
A survey of Conservative party members for the website ConservativeHome shows that only around 12% of members favor Sunak as their first choice candidate to succeed. Penny Mordaunt comes first in the survey, but she’s only in about 20% and perhaps most important in the survey is what she suggests…
