– Ben Wallace –
The 52-year-old defense minister is more popular than ever amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although he has always denied being interested in being appointed leader of the Conservative Party, he is seen by the Tories as a frank and competent figure.
According to a YouGov poll released Thursday and carried out among members of the Conservative Party, Ben Wallace, at the Ministry of Defense since 2019, would win against all his other competitors in the event of an election to elect a new Conservative leader.
“Some of us have an obligation to maintain security in this country, whoever the prime minister is. The party has a mechanism to change leaders and I advise my colleagues to use it. In the meantime, the public would not forgive us for leaving his ministries empty,” he said on Thursday, confirming that he would remain in government despite the cascading resignations.
– Penny Mordaunt –Â
Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Penny Mordaunt, 49, was a figure in the campaign for Brexit in 2016 and has since worked to negotiate trade agreements.
She was the first woman to become Minister of Defense in May 2019. She left this post when Boris Johnson came to power. She is currently Secretary of State for Foreign Trade.
This Royal Navy reservist is considered a good speaker. She has recently risen in popularity among conservatives and is seen as a serious option to replace the prime minister.
According to the YouGov poll, she would be the second most serious candidate to lead the Conservative Party, just behind Mr. Wallace.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the first Hindu to hold this position, resigned from the government on Tuesday.
His resignation places him on the side of the favorites to take over from Mr. Johnson, who had lost ground because of his fortune and the tax arrangements of his wealthy wife, frowned upon in the midst of a purchasing power crisis.
Mr Sunak, whose grandparents emigrated from northern India to the UK in the 1960s, was an analyst at Goldman Sachs and then employed in hedge funds. He was elected MP in 2015.
The 42-year-old Brexit advocate became finance minister in 2020 but has been criticized for his insufficient action against soaring prices.
Her outspokenness and willingness to meddle in the culture wars has made Foreign Secretary Liz Truss quite popular with the Tory base.
Ms Truss, 46, was given the delicate post as a reward for her work as Minister for International Trade. In this position, this champion of free trade, who had voted in favor of remaining in the European Union before changing sides, concluded a series of post-Brexit trade agreements.
His hard line on invading Ukraine or his threats to break away from the EU deal over Northern Ireland appeal to some conservatives.
