United Kingdom: the Tories on the eve of the election of the new Prime Minister
Audio 01:24
The two candidates to succeed Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
© REUTERS - HANNAH MCKAY
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
The United Kingdom will know the name of its new Prime Minister on Monday, September 5, shortly before 2 p.m. (Paris time).
It is the 200,000 Conservative Party activists who have voted over the past six weeks to choose their new leader between Liz Truss, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Rishi Sunak, former Minister of the Economy.
Once elected, the new Prime Minister will have to face a major challenge: the economic crisis.
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With our correspondent in London,
Émeline Vin
If Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, the two candidates for the succession of Boris Johnson,
have very different programs, the conservative militants have only one word in the mouth: to meet.
The conservatives, even in the internal campaign, remain a family, hammering Lee and James, supporters of
the favorite Liz Truss
.
"
A robust debate is healthy,
" says the first.
There's no need to be belligerent, but I think it's good to debate rather than everyone agreeing all the time
.
»
His comrade joins him: “
Whoever wins, I'm sure he or she will pick up the best ideas from this campaign.
From this Monday, we become members of the same team again.
»
At the microphone, zero tackles… Especially on the side of Rishi Sunak's supporters, who admit that
according to the polls, they may well lose
.
The former minister, moreover, welcomes the results of his competitor.
“
There are many more subjects on which I agree with Liz, than subjects on which we differ
, assures Rishi Sunak.
Liz is a wonderful Minister of Foreign Affairs, a wonderful ambassador for our country and we should all pay tribute to her as a proud and passionate Conservative
.
»
“
Of course I would be disappointed if he is not elected,
confides Samia, dressed in a T-shirt stamped “Ready for Rishi”,
but I understand that it is the one who has the most votes who prevails and we must support it as much as possible.
At the end of the day, we are all Tories, and we will support whoever is elected leader of the party, and we will defeat the Labor Party in the next general election
!
»
10% inflation
If the two candidates have one thing in common, it is their designated enemy: Keir Starmer, Labor leader, given 15 points ahead of the Conservatives if the British were to elect a new government today.
Boris Johnson's successor will take office on Tuesday and will immediately have to face his first challenge: the economic crisis.
It will indeed inherit inflation at 10%, unseen for 40 years.
Clare Moriarty runs the economic and legal aid network Citizens Advice and has never seen such a situation.
“
We see people who are already in impossible situations
,” she reports.
People who come for the first time and earn 40, 50,000 thousand pounds per year (more than 4,000 euros per month).
Typically, energy bill demands are lower in the summer, but not this week.
And in August, we had a record number of applicants for food banks…
”
An aid package was announced in March, but since then inflation has accelerated.
Energy will increase by 80% in October.
Other aid, much more targeted, much greater, will be needed.
“
If the government does not intervene
, explains Lalitha Try, researcher at the think tank Resolution Foundation,
the average income will fall by 10%, a record, over the next two years.
There will be 3 million more people in absolute poverty by next time.
Absolute child poverty will increase by 45% between last year and next year
.
»
According to the think tank, the aid currently promised by the favorite Liz Truss, tax cuts, will not help the most vulnerable.
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Boris Johnson
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Economic crisis