Who will succeed Boris Johnson? Last two Tory leaders mainly show division within party in debate | Abroad

Boris Johnson may have resigned three weeks ago, but he hasn’t disappeared from the political scene yet. The Tories, of which Johnson was the leader, will remain in charge until the next election. Johnson didn’t have a successor ready yet, so he will stay on until there is. On 5 September, after a vote among members of the ruling party, the new leader and thus also the new prime minister will be announced.

Tory leaders have fallen one by one in recent weeks, until only two remained: current Secretary of State Liz Truss and ex-Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak. Both candidates have not yet secured their spot at 10 Downing Street.

Members of the Tories can vote by letter before September 5 for which of the two they prefer to see having coffee with Queen Elizabeth every week. The party will organize no fewer than twelve meetings throughout the country in the coming period, but by no means all party members will go there. This is why the debate between the two leaders tonight is vital to the race between Sunak and Truss.

A winner was not to emerge from the debate. What the BBC screening did show is the substantive division that the Tories will not get rid of with this one election. It was hard against hard between Truss and Sunak. When it comes to taxes, the accusations were flying around. Truss said he would immediately cut taxes after being appointed as prime minister, resulting in higher government debt and loans. Sunak wants to control inflation first, because he believes a larger government debt will not solve anything in the long term.

“It is not fair to ask our children to pay the bill that we are pushing forward,” said Sunak. Truss accused Sunak of wanting to set up a ‘fear project’ and thought it was reasonable to borrow money after the corona pandemic, ‘an event that only happens once every 100 years’.

In addition, Truss accused Sunak of having changed his mind about trade relations with China very quickly. “A month ago you wanted to push trade routes with China through it,” Truss said, referring to Sunak’s ministry. In fact, Sunak recently said that China is ‘the biggest long-term threat to Britain’. “It’s great that you’ve started to think my way,” Truss said.

They didn’t just disagree. Both remain satisfied with Johnson’s premiership, even though Sunak has been accused of symbolically stabbing the ex-prime minister in the back. However, both see no position for Johnson in their imaginary cabinet. “It’s time to look ahead,” Sunak explains.

Both also plan to push through Johnson’s controversial plan to first send asylum seekers to Rwanda – to be assessed for asylum in the United Kingdom. This is how the dangerous immigration flows across the Channel are stopped. Human rights organizations as well as political opponents have expressed much criticism of this plan.

Within the party they are worried after the debate. For example, the sole winner of the bitter campaign would be the Labor party, the opponent of the Tories in the British Parliament. Former party chairman Amanda Milling shared that she has never “seen such a toxic campaign.” On Twitter she called the candidates a Clean Campaign Charter to draw. Without this promise, “the permanent damage to the party could cause a loss of power that could last up to a decade.”

In every round of voting so far, held only among politicians, Rishi Sunak has emerged as the favourite. But if you listen to the bookies, Liz Truss will be the next resident of 10 Downing Street. So it will be exciting who will replace Boris Johnson after September 5.

As a ‘sensible manager of the treasury’, Sunak presents himself as the smart choice. The finance minister at the time of the corona crisis was praised for his support packages, but now he says he understands that the current economic situation requires measures. That works for politicians, but Liz ‘lower taxes’ Truss seems to appeal more to the conservative voter. She hopes to ease the burden of the average Brit with lower taxes. In short, Sunak is already going to cost the average Briton money in the short term, and Truss promises to cut costs quickly

Truss is also not without criticism received from her party members. For example, the current Secretary of State would sometimes very much like to imitate her political idol Margaret Thatcher, to the dismay of some of the voters. In addition, she is not a very strong speaker, and has little to say about the long term. So the race is far from over.