Truss’ farewell means a second chance for Sunak and former Prime Minister Johnson

Liz Truss entered the books yesterday as the UK’s shortest-serving Prime Minister ever. After a tumultuous 45 days, she has resigned, and thus the Conservative Party is looking for another leader to automatically become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The third in a year.

The opposition Labor Party is calling for new elections, but they won’t be on the calendar until 2025. Additionally: These elections must be called by the ruling party, but the Conservative Party is not waiting for that at the moment.

It is very likely that the Labor Party will emerge as the winner of the elections. Opinion polls show the Conservative Party in poor shape, which is one result of the internal struggles and scandals of recent months.

So there will be another leadership election. The goal is to appoint a new prime minister by next Friday at the latest.

Conservative MPs who want to run for leadership must gather at least 100 votes from their party colleagues to run for the nomination. They have until noon on Mondays to do so. Since there are 357 Conservative MPs, a maximum of three candidates can pass the threshold and thus participate in the leadership election.

If it is clear who the candidates are, the first round of voting will follow live on Monday afternoon. If there are three candidates, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated. A second round of voting will follow in the evening.

Next, it should be clear who the Conservative parliamentarians have put forward as the preferred candidate. Later in the week, all Conservative Party members will then be able to vote online and it will be clear who will succeed Truss.

It can also be faster: there is a chance that only one candidate will get more than a hundred votes. In that case there will be no elections on Monday afternoon, but it will be a date. In this case, members no longer have to vote, so it will be clear already on Monday who will lead the Conservative Party and thus become the new head of government in the UK.

Many politicians are very happy to run for prime minister. Among them is former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, who came second to Truss in last summer’s leadership election. He seems to be the biggest contender at the moment.

Benny Mordaunt, the party’s leader in the House of Commons, is also said to be exploiting Truss’ position. She placed third in the previous driving race.

Then there is former Prime Minister Johnson who was forced to resign after several scandals. According to British media, he is seeing a return to 10 Downing Street. “BoJo” is currently on vacation in the Dominican Republic, but yesterday there were immediate rumors that he would break it prematurely.

The names of Interior Minister Soyla Braverman, who resigned this week, and Secretary of State for International Trade Kimi Badenouche, are also singing. So far, no one has confirmed his or her nomination.

If the new leader is at the helm and takes part in 10 Downing Street, the main problems and divisions within the Conservative Party will by no means be resolved.

And the job the new prime minister faces has only grown during Truss’ short reign. The economy is bad. Purchasing power hasn’t been this low in 60 years and millions of Britons will struggle to pay their energy bills this winter.

Pension funds have also been hit in recent weeks, and the pound has fallen deeply. This rose again slightly after Truss announced her resignation yesterday. In any case, Truss’ successor will have to act directly to address the problems in the country.