• Great Britain Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss advance to the final to succeed Boris Johnson

  • United Kingdom The Secretary of Culture accuses Sunak of having orchestrated a "coup d'état" against Johnson

The succession of Boris Johnson to the head of the British Government and the conservative leadership

changed the atmosphere in the final stretch of the long and hard-fought duel

and landed this Wednesday at Wembley Arena, the legendary London pavilion for pop band concerts and divas performances of the song.

Photographs of the Beatles, a poster signed by Mick Jagger and his colleagues from The Rolling Stones and other glamorous memorabilia framed the entrance to the compound of the two finalists in the 'tories' primary:

Liz Truss

, foreign minister and favorite to win the victory, and the former Minister of Economy,

Rishi Sunak

.

Latecomer Sunak got physically ahead of his rival and he was the first to rub shoulders with his team of volunteers, supporters and potential voters.

Before taking the floor, he gained the support of

James Smith

, one of the 7,000 'Tory' militants and his companions, who attended the Wembley event, which closed the official tour of the primaries.

"I want to listen to both of them, but I think I'll vote for Rishi. He's smart, articulate, and normal. Liz is weird," he tells this newspaper

, bringing up a frequent complaint from critics of Truss

.

Barbara Dingle remains undecided, though she, too, leans toward Sunak due to his "financial expertise."

"We need it in this terrible economic phase," she says.

Members waited in line for about 45 minutes before going through the rigorous security check.

Once inside, they soaked up the rivalry of both sides, who displayed their distinctive emblems and messages on t-shirts, bags, pamphlets, cups... "We trust Liz", "Liz as a leader", "Low taxes", pointed out the claims in blue France of the minister.

"Ready for Rishi" summed up the logo of the former banker who, during the coronavirus pandemic, devised and facilitated a massive state aid plan for employees and companies.

Succession of Boris Johnson

United Kingdom.

The Rishi Sunak Debacle

  • Writing: CARLOS FRESNEDA(Correspondent)London

The Rishi Sunak Debacle

The portrait.

Liz Truss: The Metamorphosis of Maggie's "Apprentice"

  • Writing: CARLOS FRESNEDA(Correspondent)London

Liz Truss: The Metamorphosis of Maggie's "Apprentice"

At Wembley he showed once again that he will not relax the defenses or the fighting spirit until the end of the pulse.

"All votes count," he said hopefully.

The electronic voting deadline expires this Friday

, although the majority did so weeks ago, according to polls.

Some 160,000 affiliates - the party does not provide figures - can participate in the primaries.

They represent 0.2% of the UK electorate and are above the national average in terms of age, financial affluence and residence in the south of the country.

Young people were not lacking at Wembley.

Many collaborate in the campaign and others took the opportunity to see and hear the two Downing Street hopefuls live.

"I voted for Liz," reveals 26-year-old Sam White.

"She is open, believable in her even she admitted that she changed her mind in the past. She can do it again, but she is driven by interest in helping the country while Rishi seems more concerned about her career."

Pensioner Anil Kumar fears it

will be difficult to unite the party after the fierce antagonism between the two candidates

.

"His programs are very different and, with Truss, we will lose the general election to Labour," he warns.

Truss proposes reducing taxes as a way to boost economic growth, eliminate regulations and break the pending "ties" with the

European Union

.

In London, he promised to "end the power of union barons over vital services" such as public transport, which has been hit by a series of strikes over wages, pensions and working conditions.

In addition,

he ruled out imposing an extraordinary tax on the profits of energy companies,

but once again reserved the details of his shock plan to mitigate the cost of living crisis.

He reiterated his stance against state "handouts" and promised to cut the tax charter."


Truss

also pledged to promote aid and arms supplies to Ukraine because, he said, "Putin's defeat is vital"

in the country.

The result of the contest will be announced on Monday

.

But the winner will not receive official permission to form a government until the following day.

And, for the first time in the reign of Elizabeth II, the private act will take place in Scotland.

The monarch has decided to break with her tradition, perhaps forced by mobility problems at 96 years old, and she will be absent from Buckingham Palace, the traditional venue for constitutional acts.

She will see Boris Johnson off at his

Balmoral castle

, where she is spending the summer holidays.

She minutes later she will "invite" Truss or Sunak to form the new UK government.

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