The head of diplomacy Liz Truss embarked on Sunday July 10 in the race for the succession of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in a campaign marked by the debate on tax policy and which promises to be particularly bitter.

"I will fight in this election as a Conservative and govern as a Conservative," said Liz Truss, 46, announcing a candidacy that was no doubt in the columns of the Daily Telegraph.

As a child, she played Margaret Thatcher in a school play.

Now 46, the head of British diplomacy Liz Truss hopes to succeed him and become the third woman in Downing Street.

Like Thatcher, the "Iron Lady" Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, Liz Truss is a champion of free trade, and launches into the campaign wanting to embody the essence of British conservatism.

Foreign Minister Liz Truss for almost a year went so far as to imitate Margaret Thatcher by posing in a fur hat in Red Square last February, during a trip to Moscow intended to try to dissuade Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine.

With her candidacy, she thus joins several heavyweights of the Conservative Party in a race which has a total of 11 competitors.

An uncertain election

Secretary of State for International Trade Penny Mordaunt, 49, launched herself on Sunday morning.

This former Navy reservist, who was the first woman to hold the post of Minister of Defense in 2019, insisted on the need for the public debate "to revolve a little less around the leader", to focus on the " vessel".

A clear desire to get out of the endless succession of scandals that have marred Boris Johnson's mandate, until leaving him no choice but to resign Thursday, after an avalanche of departures in his government.

Very open, the competition for the head of the conservative party - and therefore for Downing Street, the Tories being the majority in the House of Commons - bodes well for an electric summer, with its share of revelations and stink balls.

On Saturday evening, former ministers Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid in turn announced their candidacies in the columns of the conservative Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

Sajid Javid insisted on his plan to reduce taxes, distancing himself from the line of Rishi Sunak, who is among the favorites and wants to wait for a consolidation of public finances before considering embarking on such a path, in a Kingdom United in the grip of an inflation not seen for 40 years.

Finalists known by July 20

Another serious candidate, Nadhim Zahawi: as Secretary of State, he had piloted the British anti-covid vaccination program, before moving last week from the Ministry of Education to that of Finance.

In total, the authorities of the party anticipate about fifteen candidacies, an influx which suggests an increase in the thresholds in terms of sponsorships or number of votes in the first part of the process.

But Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 Committee, responsible for the internal organization of the party, said he was "confident" on Sunday on LBC radio that the two finalists will be known by July 20.

The more precise timetable is expected on Monday, for a possible closing of applications on Tuesday, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

The objective mentioned is to ensure that the final vote, open only to members of the Conservative Party, makes it possible to designate the winner by the beginning of September.

With AFP

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