UK transport minister Grant Shapps to run to replace outgoing PM Johnson
Grant Shapps, an experienced MP who initially served in the cabinet under former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010 but is not currently a favourite in the polls to replace Johnson, has pledged to deliver "strategic" and "sober" governance.
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FollowBritain's transport minister became the fifth Conservative MP to announce a leadership challenge against Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday, a long-shot addition to the expanding and already fractious leadership battle.
Grant Shapps, an experienced MP who initially served in the cabinet under former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010 but is not currently a favourite in the polls to replace Johnson, has pledged to deliver "strategic" and "sober" governance.
His statement came only hours after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who has shone in the post during the Ukraine conflict and has been rated as a Tory member's favourite in numerous recent polls, announced he will not run after consulting with colleagues and family.
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"It has not been an easy decision to make," he said on Twitter, "but my emphasis is on my present job and keeping our wonderful country secure."
The months-long campaign, which may pit more than a dozen Conservative MPs and factions of the ruling party against each other, is scheduled to be formalised on Monday when a committee of backbenchers meets to determine the timetable and regulations.
Former finance minister Rishi Sunak is the early contender, having helped spark the cabinet upheaval that resulted in Johnson's forced departure on Thursday.
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Sunak resigned late Tuesday, prompting hundreds of junior colleagues to follow suit and compelling his former boss to resign as Tory leader 36 hours later. Along with Sunak, attorney general and arch-Brexiteer Suella Braverman, former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, and backbencher Tory MP Tom Tugendhat have also declared their candidacies.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and new Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi, who took over the Treasury from Sunak, are set to enter the fray. Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, who finished second behind Boris Johnson in 2019, is also "almost certain" to run again, according to sources in the UK media.
Following the roughly 60 resignations that prompted his decision to leave, Johnson put together a new team to rule in the interim, announcing a slew of junior appointments late Friday. At a hurriedly held meeting of his senior ministers on Thursday, the 58-year-old admitted that "important budgetary choices should be left to the future prime minister," according to Downing Street.
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