LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative Party on Wednesday chose former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss — a fiscal moderate and a low-tax crusader — as the two finalists in a party election to replace departing Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The result came just after the divisive, unrepentant Johnson, who has plunged his party into turmoil, ended his final appearance in Parliament as prime minister with the words “Hasta la vista, baby.”
Sunak and Truss came first and second respectively in a secret vote by Conservative lawmakers. Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt came in third and was eliminated.
The race, which has already produced bitter Conservative infighting, pits Sunak, who steered Britain’s economy through the pandemic before quitting Johnson’s government this month, against Truss, who has led the U.K.’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The two contenders will spend the next few weeks campaigning for the votes of about 180,000 Conservative Party members around the country, who will vote by postal or online ballot. The winner of the party leadership vote will be announced Sept. 5 and will automatically become Britain’s next prime minister.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative Party on Wednesday chose former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss — a fiscal moderate and a low-tax crusader — as the two finalists in a party election to replace departing Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The result came just after the divisive, unrepentant Johnson, who has plunged his party into turmoil, ended his final appearance in Parliament as prime minister with the words “Hasta la vista, baby.”
Sunak and Truss came first and second respectively in a secret vote by Conservative lawmakers. Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt came in third and was eliminated.
The race, which has already produced bitter Conservative infighting, pits Sunak, who steered Britain’s economy through the pandemic before quitting Johnson’s government this month, against Truss, who has led the U.K.’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The two contenders will spend the next few weeks campaigning for the votes of about 180,000 Conservative Party members around the country, who will vote by postal or online ballot. The winner of the party leadership vote will be announced Sept. 5 and will automatically become Britain’s next prime minister.