Who’s Going to Replace Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister?
So, who will replace Boris Johnson when the keys to 10 Downing Street are finally prised from his cold, deadened hands? There’ll be no shortage of candidates, including a few no-hopers either deluded as to their own personal brilliance or just keen to have “former leadership contender” on their résumés. And compared to recent contests it’s wide-open, with no clear favorite and a drawn-out process to navigate. Candidates, who must come from the parliamentary party, will be whittled down in a series of ballots of all 358 Conservative lawmakers before the final two fight it out for the support of rank-and-file members. The winner will be the person who wins the support of both those constituencies.
Dominic Raab, 48. As Brexit Secretary back in 2018, Raab was widely mocked after admitting he hadn’t realized, duh, quite how much Britain relied on the Dover-Calais route for trade with the continent. He then resigned in protest at his own Brexit deal. But that didn’t hold him back: He served first as Foreign Secretary under Johnson and is now Deputy Prime Minister. That makes him favorite to take over as caretaker PM while the Tories elect a new leader—although rivals may not let that happen if he is a leadership candidate, which might hand Johnson a couple more months in Downing Street.
Rishi Sunak, 42. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer—the minister in charge of the nation’s finances—who helped trigger Johnson’s departure with his resignation on Tuesday. Born to Indian immigrant parents, Sunak was educated at Winchester public school, Oxford, and Stanford: about as posh as it gets. Suave, urbane and super-confident, he was appointed Chancellor in early 2020 just as COVID hit and won praise for protecting British workers and companies during the pandemic. But his reputation among party members took a hit with the revelation his wife—the daughter of an Indian billionaire—claimed special “non-dom” status to avoid U.K. tax on her considerable overseas earnings.