(missing word in title added: “um”)
LONDON (dpa-AFX) – In the competition to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the tone intensified over the weekend. Penny Mordaunt, Secretary of State for Commerce, who was popular with the conservative party base, was increasingly caught in the crossfire of her rivals. Criticisms of her included accusations that she had gone too far in responding to demands from trans rights activists. Mordaunt spoke of a smear campaign.
In addition to Mordaunt, four other candidates are currently in the running for the top office. The field of applicants is to be further reduced from five to two in several rounds of voting in the Tory parliamentary group by next Wednesday. In each round, the last-placed player is eliminated. After that, the party members call the shots.
Ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak is largely set for the final round. So far, Foreign Minister Liz Truss has won the second most votes. But Mordaunt and the hitherto almost unknown MP Kemi Badenoch are still given chances. The application of the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat, is considered less promising – although he is considered the best-placed candidate for an upcoming parliamentary election.
So far, the main topics have been the tax breaks promised by the candidates, how to deal with illegal immigrants and the position in the dispute over rights for trans people. Opposition politicians warned of an outbidding competition between right-wing conservative positions.
So far, climate change has hardly played a role. The President of the COP26 UN World Climate Summit held in Glasgow, Scotland last year, Alok Sharma, did not want to rule out resigning if the future head of government proved to be weak in pursuing climate goals./cmy/DP/he