October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
The Conservative Party leadership election in October 2022 determined Liz Truss's successor as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following her resignation on October 20, 2022.
By the end of October 24, the two favorites were Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak. After Mordaunt dropped out of the election, Sunak became the leader on the same day, at 2pm.
Background
[change | change source]July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election
[change | change source]Eleven candidates put forward for the July 2022 party leadership election. Eight people were fully nominated by Conservative MPs: Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi. After five rounds of voting, MPs chose Sunak and Truss to nominate party members to vote. Truss was elected by members on September 5 with 57.4 percent of the vote.
Economic policies
[change | change source]Truss appointed Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer. In September 2022, he announced a small budget with tax cuts and spending increases. What followed was a sharp fall in the value of the pound. This drew widespread criticism. Truss and Kwarteng defended the budget for more than a week before they started announcing the repeal of the most controversial measures:
The removal of the 45% income tax rate for the top earners; and the removal of the planned corporate income tax freeze.
Government crisis
[change | change source]On October 14, 2022, Truss replaced Kwarteng with Jeremy Hunt.
On October 19, Suella Braverman resigned as Home Secretary.
There were allegations of manhandling, bullying, physical intimidation at a vote on Labour's motion to ban fracking that night. On October 20, 2022, Liz Truss met with the Chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady and Chairman of the Conservative Party Sir Jake Berry before announcing her resignation.
Election details
[change | change source]On October 20 Truss wrote in her resignation letter that the election would be completed "within the next week." Sir Graham Brady instituted a fast procedure.
Qualification
[change | change source]Deadline for nominations was 2:00pm, October 24, 2022. Candidates needed support from at least 100 members of Congress by the deadline.
Candidates
[change | change source]Declared
[change | change source]| Candidate | Political office and constituency | Date declared | Previous Leadership Election (July–September 2022) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Rishi Sunak |
Chancellor of the Exchequer (2020–2022) MP for Richmond (2015–present) |
23 October 2022 | Second, in the runoff on 5 September 2022 | [1] |
Withdrawn
[change | change source]The following Conservative MP declared her intention to stand for leadership but subsequently withdrew from the race:
| Candidate | Political office and constituency | Date declared | Date withdrew | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Penny Mordaunt |
Leader of the House of Commons (2022–present) MP for Portsmouth North (2010–present) |
21 October 2022 | 24 October 2022 | [2][3][4] |
Explored
[change | change source]The following Conservative MP explored a possible candidacy but declined to stand.
| Candidate | Political office and constituency | Date declined | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Boris Johnson |
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2019–2022) MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (2015–2023) |
23 October 2022 | [5][6] |
Declined
[change | change source]Commentators suggested the following Conservative Party politicians as candidates, who declined to stand:
- Michael Gove, former Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (September 2021–July 2022), MP for Surrey Heath (2005–present)[7]
- Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer (since October 2022), MP for South West Surrey (2005–present)[8]
- Theresa May, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (July 2016–July 2019), MP for Maidenhead (1997–present)[9]
- Tom Tugendhat, Minister of State for Security (since September 2022), MP for Tonbridge and Malling (2015–present)[10]
- Brandon Lewis, Secretary of State for Justice (since September 2022), MP for Great Yarmouth (2010–present)
- Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defence (since July 2019), MP for Wyre and Preston North (2005–present) (suggested preference for Boris Johnson)[11]
- Grant Shapps, Home Secretary (since October 2022), MP for Welwyn Hatfield (2005–present)[12]
- James Cleverly, Foreign Secretary (since September 2022), MP for Braintree (2015–present)[13]
- Sajid Javid, former Chancellor of the Exchequer (July 2019–February 2020), MP for Bromsgrove (2010–present) (endorsed Rishi Sunak)[14]
- Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for International Trade (since September 2022), MP for Saffron Walden (2017–present)[15] (endorsed Rishi Sunak)
- Suella Braverman, former Home Secretary (September–October 2022), MP for Fareham (2015–present) (endorsed Rishi Sunak)[16]
Results
[change | change source]Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the election because she was unable to get the support of 100 MPs by the deadline of the election.[17] This allowed Rishi Sunak to win the election unopposed, and became the Leader of the Conservative Party.[18]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "Rishi Sunak: I am standing to be British prime minister". Reuters. 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ↑ Scott, Jennifer (21 October 2022). "Penny Mordaunt announces leadership bid after Liz Truss resigns". Sky News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ↑ "Penny Mordaunt pulls out of Tory leadership race, paving way for Rishi Sunak to become next PM". Sky News. 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
- ↑ Diver, Tony (2022-10-24). "Penny Mordaunt pulls out of Tory leadership race". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
- ↑ Crerar, Pippa (20 October 2022). "Boris Johnson considering running again to be PM, say allies". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ↑ Mason, Rowena (23 October 2022). "Boris Johnson says he will not stand in Tory leadership contest". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ↑ "Michael Gove ruled out for Tory leadership". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ↑ "Finance minister Hunt will not stand in UK leadership contest - local media". Reuters. 20 October 2022. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ↑ "Theresa May rules herself out of standing for prime minister: 'I've been there, done that'". 22 October 2022.
- ↑ Nadeem Badshah; Andrew Sparrow; Léonie Chao-Fong and Graham Russell (20 October 2022). "Tom Tugendhat will not be running for the Conservative party leadership, Guido Fawkes reports". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Ben Wallace rules himself out for PM and suggests he would back Johnson". the Guardian. 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
- ↑ "Shapps suggests he will continue as Home Secretary". Evening Standard. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ↑ Maidment, Jack (20 October 2022). "James Cleverly rules out leadership bid". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ↑ "Next UK prime minister - latest: Boris Johnson backed by third cabinet minister - amid push to stop Liz Truss issuing resignation honours list; Sunak gets major endorsement". Sky News. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
- ↑ Walker, Peter (20 October 2022). "Who Could Replace Liz Truss as Prime Minister?". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ↑ Braverman, Suella (2022-10-23). "Rishi Sunak is the only candidate that fits the bill for prime minister". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
- ↑ Brown, Faye (24 October 2022). "Rishi Sunak becomes UK's next prime minister after Penny Mordaunt drops out of leadership race". Sky News. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ↑ "Rishi Sunak to be the next prime minister as Penny Mordaunt withdraws from race". The Independent. 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2022-10-24.