What to expect from the UK Conservative Party as it gears up for a new leader

LONDON — The UK is gearing up for a new prime minister this week, just 44 days into office following the sudden resignation of Liz Truss. It’s his fifth in six years.

Truss’ successor will again be determined by a Conservative leadership contest drawn from shortlists of candidates.

This time, however, the process has been rapidly tracked to a week’s space as the Communist Party seeks to restore its confidence and reassure markets after a month of economic turmoil that has turned upside down under the Truss administration.

Over the weekend, two Tory hopefuls officially threw their hats into the ring to challenge for the top job. They include frontrunner Rishi Snack, who lost to Truss in the September leadership race, and third-place finisher Penny Mordaunt.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson, who was ousted in a scandal three months ago, said Sunday he was withdrawing from the campaign to unite his party.

The two remaining candidates are rallying around their fellow Members of Parliament (MPs) to collect the minimum number of votes needed to participate in the final runoff vote. Here’s how the race is expected to play out over the next few days, or possibly hours.

Candidates must get the support of 100 members of parliament by 2pm London time on Monday to participate in a vote for the party leader.

The threshold is particularly high given that the party is made up of 357 members and each member can only vote for one candidate. Therefore, the number of possible candidates he is limited to three.

As of 6 a.m. local time on Monday, Sunak had the support of 155 members of parliament, and Mordaunt had nominated 25 candidates, according to the BBC.

All MPs must submit their nominations by the 2:00 PM deadline, either by email or by signature. After that, the results will be revealed.

If even one candidate gets the required 100 votes, that candidate automatically wins the race and becomes Britain’s next Prime Minister.

If two or more candidates reach 100 nominations, the contest will advance to preliminary voting on Monday afternoon.

The first ballot of legislators will be held between 3:30pm and 5:30pm, with results announced at 6:00pm.

If there are only two candidates at this stage, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is expected to resign to avoid online voting among party members. But it’s not guaranteed.

If there are three candidates, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and a second ballot is taken.

If necessary, a second parliamentary ballot will be held between 6:30pm and 8:30pm, with results announced at 9:00pm.

At that point, the candidate with the fewest votes may resign. Otherwise, the process proceeds to a vote among party members.

If the process is extended beyond Monday, about 200,000 Conservative Party members, representing 0.3% of the UK population, will have to vote online for their preferred candidate until 11am on Friday. there is.

This process will be an expedited version of the six-week process used to elect the truss on September 5th.

Winners will be announced later on Friday. King Charles of England then asked them to form a government, making them the next Prime Minister in the process.

The new prime minister has just a few days to settle into work and announce a new cabinet before the Ministry of Finance’s fiscal budget is announced on Monday, October 31.

The statement will draw attention from both British citizens and international investors as newly appointed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt seeks to rectify the destruction caused by the Truss government and his predecessor, Kwasi Kwarten. become.

But questions remain about whether the budget will go as planned and whether the next prime minister will keep Hunt.