Rishi Sunak to Jeremy Hunt: 5 people who could replace Boris Johnson as UK PM

By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 7, 2022, 2:52 PM IST

Johnson is facing a big vote of no confidence, with Cabinet colleagues and numerous Conservative MPs rushing to express their dissatisfaction with his leadership. Many people feel that the Prime Minister, who survived a vote of no-confidence last month, will not survive another if it occurs again.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's tenure is in jeopardy following the resignations of Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, who were followed by at least 30 additional parliamentarians and government officials in the 24 hours since. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's days in 10 Downing Street may be limited, despite his defiance in the face of decreasing support from fellow Conservatives.

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Rishi Sunak

Sunak, who resigned as finance minister on Tuesday, stated that "the public correctly expects government to be run professionally, competently, and seriously." Sunak was the favourite to succeed Johnson until last year. He was hailed for an economic rescue package during the coronavirus epidemic, which included a jobs retention scheme that averted widespread unemployment and may have cost up to 410 billion pounds ($514 billion).

Sunak, on the other hand, has come under fire for not providing adequate cost-of-living assistance to households, his affluent wife's non-domiciled tax status, and a punishment he got, along with Johnson, for violating COVID-19 lockdown regulations. Last year, his tax-and-spend budget set Britain on pace for its highest tax load since the 1950s, contradicting his claims to favour lower taxes.

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Sajid Javid

Javid, the former health secretary, has held numerous high cabinet positions and ran for party leadership in 2019. He previously served as Johnson's finance minister until resigning in 2020 after refusing to discharge some of his most senior advisers. He was also Former Prime Minister Theresa May's home secretary.

Javid is a prominent Thatcherite (a painting of the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher is said to hang on his office wall) and a supporter of Ayn Rand's beliefs on free market capitalism, individualism, and small-state governance. In June 2021, Javid returned to cabinet as health secretary, altering the government's approach on COVID-19 away from mass restrictions and toward individual accountability.

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Ben Wallace

Defence minister Ben Wallace, 52, has climbed in recent months to be the most popular member of the cabinet among Conservative Party members due to his handling of the Ukraine situation. He served in Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus, and Central America as a former soldier and was cited in dispatches in 1992. He began his political career in Scotland's devolved assembly in May 1999, before being elected to the Westminster parliament for the first time in 2005. He served as security minister from 2016 to his present position three years later, garnering praise for his department's participation in the evacuation of British nationals and allies from Afghanistan last year, as well as the delivery of arms to Kyiv during Ukraine's recent battle.

Liz Truss

The foreign secretary is a favourite among the Conservative Party's grassroots, routinely topping surveys of party members conducted by the website Conservative Home. Truss has a carefully managed public image and was pictured in a tank last year, mirroring a famous 1986 image of Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female prime minister, who was also taken in such a stance.

The 46-year-old served as foreign trade minister for the first two years of Johnson's administration, pushing Brexit, and was chosen as Britain's principal negotiator with the European Union last year.

Jeremy Hunt

Former health and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt was defeated by Johnson for the Conservative leadership in 2019 and has since positioned himself as the straight-laced antidote to the embattled prime minister. Hunt has moved closer to the centre of the Conservative Party, having advocated for Remain in the Brexit referendum. He has been outspoken in his criticism of Johnson's handling of the epidemic and the "partygate" affair.

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