On Sunday (July 10), five more candidates announced their intentions to run for the position of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Many of them promised cheaper taxes and a fresh start after Johnson's scandal-plagued premiership.
Following a backlash from MPs and Cabinet members over his management of a slew of scandals, including violations of lockdown procedures during events at his Downing Street office, Johnson announced on Thursday that he would step down as prime minister.
He promised to continue serving until a new leader was chosen.
The final outcome would be made public in September, a member of the Conservative party committee that establishes the guidelines for leadership elections said on Sunday.
Penny Mordaunt, a junior trade minister, joined transport secretary Grant Shapps, finance minister Nadhim Zahawi, and previous ministers Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid in officially announcing their candidacies for the leadership on Sunday. This brings the total number of candidates to nine.
"This is a critical inflection point for our country. I believe that a socialist or socialist-led coalition government at the next election would be a disaster for the UK," Mordaunt declared in a statement. "We must win the next election."
Following a meeting on Monday, the Conservative Party's 1922 Committee of legislators, which sets the party's rules in parliament, will announce the exact timetable.
According to Bob Blackman, an officer on the executive committee of the 1922 Committee, nominations will close on Tuesday evening, followed by a process to narrow candidates down to a final two by July 21.
Over the summer, party members would elect a new party leader, who would then become Prime Minister.
"We'll select the final two by the 21st of July, to allow the party membership sufficient time to have husting sessions and a postal ballot to then lead to a new leader being in place by the fifth of September," he relayed Sky News.
Shapps, Zahawi, Hunt, and Javid all pledged tax cuts when they entered the race, pitting them against the current favorite, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, whose budget last year set Britain on course for its highest tax burden since the 1950s.
Hunt, a former foreign minister who finished second in the leadership election in 2019 when Johnson took office, and Javid, who resigned twice from Johnson's government, both said they would reduce corporation tax to 15%.
No Conservative, according to Hunt, should either raise taxes or offer unfunded tax cuts. When asked if tax cuts would cause inflation, "I don't agree with that when it comes to business taxes." he said.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will launch her campaign on Monday with a promise to cut taxes and address the cost-of-living crisis, while Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has ruled himself out.
