Who Could Be Britain’s New Prime Minister? Here Are Some Top Contenders.

Who on earth will follow Liz Truss?

The British prime minister will have served just six tumultuous weeks in office, despite having won handily an internal Conservative Party leadership bid to replace Boris Johnson, her predecessor who resigned in July after just three years in power.

Truss announced her resignation on Thursday morning after a bruising period that saw her radical economic plan almost entirely reversed after it caused panic in the financial markets and a sharp dip in the Conservative Party’s already dim standing in polls.

But with an election scheduled for 2025, who replaces Truss is likely to be an internal Conservative Party affair. But is anyone up for the uphill task of mending the rifts within Britain’s major right-wing party, let alone, mending the country’s ailing economy, and leading the Conservatives into an election?

Remarkably, some of the top names under discussion include a candidate who lost to Truss during the last internal leadership battle and another candidate who has indicated he has not interested in running.

Another option: The return of Boris Johnson. Rumors are building that he could mount to push for the rare role of once-and-future prime minister.

Confusing the matter is that it is not clear how the next Conservative Party leader will be chosen. The last time it took almost two weeks. Truss announced Thursday that it would take one week.

Here are the most prominent contenders.

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1. Rishi Sunak

As a former leader Chancellor of the Exchequer – the U.K.’s finance minister – during Johnson’s government, the 42-year-old Sunak has a reputation as a grown-up, serious politician.

During the last leadership contest all those weeks ago, Sunak dismissed Truss’s proposed economic reforms, calling them “fairy tale” economics. Their implementation has lent credence to his characterization.

But therein lies one of Sunak’s weaknesses. He already ran to be the leader of the party, ending up in the final standoff with Truss herself. He lost, in part because he could not appeal to the hardcore Conservative Party members who held the vote.

His elite background could be a problem during a general election too. He attended an exclusive private school before heading to Oxford and Stanford University and working at Goldman Sachs.

Though he broke with Johnson, he was implicated in the “Partygate” scandal that brought that former leader down and was even fined by police for attending one of the government gatherings that violated pandemic lockdown rules.

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2. Penny Mordaunt

Another possibility favored by centrist members of the Conservative Party is Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons.

Mordaunt, 49, drew attention this week as she was left to defend the government’s U-turns in Parliament when Truss apparently could not.

Some believe Mordaunt and Sunak could team up. Mordaunt, who was briefly the country’s first female defense secretary, has also served as a junior trade minister and is considered more popular with the party’s grass roots.

She has an eclectic background, including stints as a magician’s assistant and a brief period as head of foreign press for George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign.

But Mordaunt is not a well-known figure in Britain, a detail that seems to have helped curtail her run to be Conservative Party leader in July, where she was eliminated in the fifth round of voting. She went on to endorse Truss.

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3. Ben Wallace

The British Defense Secretary is well-liked by many in the Conservative Party and even non-supporters for his steadfast role during the war in Ukraine.

Wallace, 52, was at work amid the chaos on Thursday, telling the House of Commons that a Russian fighter jet released a missile near a British plane in international airspace over the Black Sea last month.

A member of parliament since 2005, he also served in the military and put in active service during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He has kept himself largely out of the internecine warfare of the Conservative Party.

But there’s a big catch: Wallace has said he doesn’t want the job. He ruled himself out of the running for party leader during the last contest in the early stages, later endorsing Truss.

“I didn’t want it enough,” he later told the Telegraph.

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4. Boris Johnson

Yes, really.

Johnson’s last day in office was just 44 days ago, but rumors are already swirling in the British press that he could make a return.

There’s a strange logic to it. Despite the scandals that brought him down, the 58-year-old remains popular with Conservative Party members, according to polls. And whatever his later troubles, of the commanding victory he secured at the 2019 general election are still fresh for many.

So far, Johnson has not commented. He is reported to be holidaying in the Caribbean.

(c) 2022, The Washington Post · Adam Taylor