With British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing his resignation a few days ago, the drama of the British cabinet forced the palace to come to an end, followed by the "Prime Minister Battle" that is as tense as a reality show in the British political arena.
According to the British political system, the leader of the Conservative Party, the current parliamentary majority party, is the candidate for prime minister. Therefore, a fierce battle is being launched within the Conservative Party over the position of the leader and the future prime minister, which also reflects the current political dilemma facing the United Kingdom.
Party leadership race
The 1922 Committee, the Conservative Party's parliamentary caucus, will be in charge of the election for a new party leader.
On July 12, the "1922 Committee" announced the election rules. Each candidate who intends to participate in the election of the party leader must obtain the support of at least 20 members of the party. A total of 8 candidates were nominated in the first round.
Conservative MPs will then conduct round after round of secret ballots, with the "1922 Committee" deciding the threshold of votes required for each round, with candidates with fewer votes being eliminated until only two remain. The candidate is then handed over to about 200,000 Conservative Party members across the UK to vote for the party leader.
The British parliament is about to face a summer recess, so it is widely expected that the last two candidates for party leadership will be decided by July 21, and the vote of all party members will be announced on September 5.
Until then, Johnson will remain prime minister until the Conservative Party finally elects a new leader and takes over as prime minister.
Under such elimination rules, candidates must constantly show their political ideas and future policies to gain support.
Foreign Secretary Truss, one of the candidates, said in an article in the British "Daily Telegraph" that she would cut taxes significantly on her first day as prime minister, and emphasized that she had worked in six different departments of the government. of extensive experience.
Mordaunt, a former defence minister who is also a popular candidate, said he would focus on tax issues and would raise the income tax threshold for basic and middle-income earners in line with inflation.
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak, who won the lead in the first round of voting, said that the top priority of the British economy is to tackle inflation, so his first priority will be tackling high inflation, not the reductions promised by other competitors. tax measures.
At the same time, candidates have to find ways to win the endorsement of more members of the party to fight against their opponents, so as to ensure that they can "advance to the finals" now or in the future.
Among the contenders who have already announced their exit, many said that some people in the campaign spread "toxic remarks to smear their opponents."
In order to protect themselves and seek a position in the next cabinet, some candidates who have fallen behind will also voluntarily give up the competition and instead announce their support for more popular candidates.
Why Johnson is betraying
Prime Minister Johnson, who has lost support, was left out of this fierce election battle, and this outcome can also be said to be his own fault.
For Johnson, the negative effects of the "Partygate" and many other scandals lingered.
From 2020 to 2021, during the anti-epidemic lockdown in the UK, Johnson has hosted parties at the Prime Minister's Office several times.
In the face of the accusation, Johnson denied it at first, but in the face of conclusive investigation results, he could only be forced to apologize and accept a fine from the British police, and his personal political image in the UK plummeted.
Before that, Johnson had been questioned in the party for some controversies, including his use of huge political donations to decorate his mansion in the Prime Minister's Office, and attempts to amend relevant parliamentary regulations to protect former cabinet members who participated in "paid lobbying".
More than 50 ministers and aides resigned in protest over his appointment of misbehaving MPs to senior positions, and Johnson had to choose to resign.
Johnson's ability to govern and governing style have also been questioned.
Although Johnson led the Conservative Party to a historic majority in the 2019 election, he failed to turn his electoral advantage into a ruling advantage after taking office. Instead, he made frequent mistakes on issues such as anti-epidemic, education, economy and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
Affected by the "Brexit" that he pushed for, the British business investment under Johnson's administration has stagnated, and the gap between the rich and the poor has continued to widen.
In the face of doubts from parliament and other institutions, Johnson's response was to try to discredit the other party.
Vernon Bogdanore, a scholar at King's College, commented that this allowed "parliament to be exploited, the executive to be vilified, and the courts to be ignored and discredited".
The Conservatives no longer believe Johnson can lead them to the next election.
In June this year, Britain held two by-elections for parliamentary seats, and the Conservative Party suffered disastrous defeats.
Senior Conservative MPs sent an open letter to Johnson at the time, warning that the by-election losses were "the latest in a series of bad outcomes".
Many MPs in the party are skeptical that the Conservative Party will win the next general election under the leadership of Johnson, believing that the Conservative Party is "sleepwalking" and is likely to fail.
In addition to his resignation in domestic politics, Johnson has also been ridiculed by Europe.
The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on social media that "Johnson's departure opens a new page in EU-UK relations".
Irish Prime Minister Martin said Johnson's withdrawal would open the way for improved UK-Ireland relations and a stronger Northern Ireland peace deal.
Clean up the political chaos and take a long time
British political analysts say whoever becomes Britain's next prime minister "will face a challenge arguably not seen at least since Margaret Thatcher came to power".
According to Reuters, the UK consumer price index reached a 40-year high of 9.1% in May this year.
The Bank of England has forecast inflation in the UK will exceed 11% in October when energy prices are next raised, and the next prime minister must deal with Britain's sharpest drop in real income since the 1950s.
In addition, the "Brexit" issue that helped Johnson win the prime minister's seat is becoming a huge political hidden danger.
Johnson's long-standing political slogan has been "Get Brexit Done", but he has not addressed how Britain should maintain economic ties with its biggest trading partner, the European Union.
Under Johnson's "Brexit" deal, the UK created a customs border between its homeland and Northern Ireland, which restricted immigration from the EU, causing problems in the UK's labour market and causing problems in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK trade issues between them.
There have since been growing calls for Northern Ireland to reunite with Ireland.
With the UK's trade volume with the EU shrinking sharply, "Brexit" has clearly made the UK a more closed economy, which has also made Scots more dissatisfied.
The majority of Scots voted against Brexit in 2016, and the current reality of Brexit and the political chaos in the UK further accelerate the possibility of another Scottish independence referendum.
Scottish First Minister Sturgeon said the Scottish government's chief legal officer had written to the UK's Supreme Court asking for a hearing on whether Scotland has the right to hold the next independence referendum.
The political chaos in the UK has also made the British people lose confidence.
A poll released in June by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change found that 69% of respondents in England and Wales believed the UK was heading for a period of decline, and 62% no longer believed the UK was a leader on the global stage , 76% of respondents believe the UK's political system has collapsed.
Obviously, it will not be easy for the next British Prime Minister to regain the confidence of the British people.
(Our reporter Deng Yufei)