Britain will decide on November 2 the new leader of the UK Conservative Party after the victory of Labour's Keir Starmer, who resigned after the defeat of then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Rishi will serve as interim party leader until his successor is elected.
The Conservatives suffered their worst ever election, losing their majority in the House of Commons and ending 14 years of government. The defeat left the Conservative Party with just 121 out of 650 seats.
Rishi Sunak will continue to represent the Conservative Party in parliamentary debates with new Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He announced that he would remain in office until November 2 to ensure a smooth and orderly transition to the new opposition leader and allow the party to play its role professionally and effectively.
“We need a smooth and orderly transition to a new Leader of the Opposition in the national interest, so I will continue in that role till November 2 and the outcome of our leadership election,” Rishi said.
The process to choose a new Conservative leader will begin with the number of candidates narrowed down to four at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham from September 29 to October 2. Only two candidates will proceed to the next stage. Party members will participate in an online poll to select the remaining two candidates, with voting ending on October 31. The name of the new chairman will be officially announced on November 2
So far, there are no officially confirmed candidates to replace Sunak, but names such as Kemi Patenoch, Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and James Cleverley are possible contenders. Conservative MPs have until July 29 to register their nominations, and any deputy can run as long as they have the support of 10 colleagues.
The defeat split the Conservative Party, with some members defending an approach to the center and others preferring a more cautious stance on issues such as immigration, one of the issues most defended by right-wing representatives such as Nigel Farage.
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