With hours to go before the endorsement deadline, the race for Conservative Party leader, and Britain’s next prime minister, has come down to two candidates: Rishi Sunak, the favorite and a former chancellor of the Exchequer, and Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons.
Both ran in the last party leadership contest less than two months ago, losing out to Liz Truss, who subsequently resigned last week. Here is a look at both candidates:
Rishi Sunak
As chancellor under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Mr. Sunak, 42, was seen for a time as Mr. Johnson’s most likely successor, but later become instrumental in his downfall. During the Covid pandemic, Mr. Sunak, a Stanford-educated former hedge fund manager, rolled out a series of aid packages for businesses and individuals that were widely applauded.
But critics have also taken issue with his handling of the country’s finances, with the National Institute of Economic and Social Research think tank saying that his failure to act to insure against interest rate rises could cost British households.
This year, two scandals also tarnished his reputation. First came the revelation that his wealthy wife had claimed a tax status that allowed her to avoid paying taxes on some of her income. Then it was revealed that Mr. Sunak continued to hold a green card, allowing him to live and work in the United States for months after he became chancellor.
Throughout the summer, as he competed against Ms. Truss for party leader, Mr. Sunak sharply criticized her economic policies. His warnings about inflation and strict adherence to fiscal conservatism may have cost him the opportunity to be named prime minister in September. But less than two months later, these same characteristics and accurate prognosis of the effects of Ms. Truss’s program may have eased his pathway to Britain’s top job.
Penny Mordaunt
A paratrooper’s daughter who serves in the Royal Naval Reserve, Ms. Mordaunt, 49, is the leader of Britain’s House of Commons. She was defense secretary for two and a half months in 2019 and held a lesser cabinet post in charge of international development.
When she briefly emerged as a contender in this summer’s party leadership contest, her rise alarmed some critics, who said that she was thinly qualified for prime minister. But she captured some support among party members because she was neither a loyalist to the scandal-scarred Mr. Johnson, nor an insurgent figure pushing for his ouster.
Like Mr. Sunak, Ms. Mordaunt voted for Brexit. And she combines an interest in security and a military background with views on social issues that are mildly progressive by Tory party standards.
She has spoken up in favor of the rights of transgender people, for example, a position that has gotten her into trouble with the culture warriors on the party’s right. This summer, seeking to defuse the issue, she said that transgender women were “not biological women like me, but the law recognizes them in their new gender, and that’s very simple and straightforward.”
Source : Nytimes
