Debate over Boris Johnson’s victory hits home

The new British Conservative leader, who will automatically succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, entered last week Monday (29), with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss the favorite in a complex economic and social situation. .

Truss, 47, defeated former finance minister Rishi Sunak by more than 30 points in the most recent poll among Conservative Party members, which will decide the controversy that began in July when Johnson was forced to resign, pressured by a series of scandals.

Conservative activists have been voting by mail or online since early August to choose their new leader in a process that ends Friday.

The winner will be announced next Monday, September 5, and he will immediately take command of the government to address the economic crisis plaguing the country, with inflation above 10%, against a backdrop of protests and strikes. 13 % till the end of the year.

Eight Conservative candidates ran in July after the controversial Johnson. Party representatives narrowed the conflict down to two names after a series of voided votes.

But the final vote rests with the party members.

England will meet a new head of government elected by 200,000 Conservative Party members in less than a week, while the rest of the country watches with helpless interest.

Tax cuts or public assistance?

With Britons worried about the rising cost of living, particularly the 80% increase in the energy tariff ceiling from October, the candidates took part in several debates and visited several cities during the campaign.

Sunak, 42, a billionaire former bank executive and grandson of Indian immigrants, is a favorite among conservative lawmakers.

But he began to lose ground as he vied for leadership at the party’s base with the foreign secretary, who came last by just eight votes, and was accused by many of precipitating Johnson’s resignation in July.

“In a party that has evolved into populism, she (Liz Truss) has been able to present herself more authentically, more naturally than Rishi Sunak, who looks like a globalized elite,” says Tim Bale, a political scientist at Queen Mary University. London.

John Curtis, a professor at the University of Strathclyde, said Truss “could easily convey traditional conservative messages”.

The campaign was dominated by one theme: how to respond to the economic and social crisis.

Truss has promised immediate tax cuts, saying the coming recession is inevitable and that post-changes to trade and financial rules inherited from the EU will help growth.

Sunak advocated the need to maintain the tax increases he decided before leaving the finance ministry and provide public assistance to those most in need. And the rival accused him of defending a “fairy tale economy”.

If she is confirmed, Truss will be the third prime minister in the country’s history, following conservatives Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990) and Theresa May (2016-2019).

The next general election is scheduled for January 2025 at the latest and opinion polls show opposition Labor party 13 points ahead of the 12-year-old Conservatives.