UK: Who can replace Liz Truss as new British PM

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation on Thursday , which means that there will now be another Conservative Party internal election to decide who will become its next leader, and consequently , Prime Minister of the country.

Choosing to replace her must be completed by the end of next week.

The prime minister has already been under pressure since the beginning of the month, when her government announced economic proposals to cut taxes and increase public spending.

These announcements were badly received by the markets, caused a devaluation of the pound sterling and a sharp reduction in the London stock market indices – and as a result the downfall of the Minister of Economy, Kwasi Kwarteng.

Candidates need at least 100 nominations from other Conservative lawmakers to run. This means that at most three of them will be able to run because there are 357 Conservative MPs.

In practice, there are likely to be two candidates, or only one, who would become leader without the need for a vote.

No one has yet confirmed that the politicians below will run, but these are some of the potential candidates.

Rishi Sunak

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Rishi Sunak ran to replace Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party a few months ago, running against Liz Truss. He won the support of a majority of Conservative lawmakers, but lost in the election held among the party's more than 200,000 members.

Now, he has been touted as the favorite to take the job on the UK betting exchanges.

During the campaign, he warned that his rival Liz Truss' tax plans would hurt the economy, but his message did not appeal to party members and he ended up losing the race by 21,000 votes.

Sunak became an MP in 2015 for the North Yorkshire constituency of the city of Richmond. Few outside of Westminster, the seat of the British government, had heard of him, but by February 2020 he was already holding one of the most important positions in the government, that of Minister of Economy.

At the time, he had to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, spending huge amounts of money trying to sustain the economy during lockdown periods.

This was not easy for a man of the Thatcherist wing, even more so for a supporter of tax cuts and conservative in public spending. Still, he gained popularity.

However, his reputation was damaged after a controversy over his wife's tax problems. Shortly after, he received a fine for violating lockdown rules.

Conservative lawmaker Angela Richardson has already pledged her support for Sunak saying: "Having spent the summer (when there was the election contest between Sunak and Truss) supporting Rishi Sunak, my views have not changed. The last six weeks have put him even more in the spotlight."

Penny Mordaunt

Penny Mordaunt had the pleasure of being prime minister earlier this week, when she replaced Liz Truss during her brief absence.

In the last election, she had strong support from her fellow parliamentarians, but lost her chance to run in the second round, in the election with party members.

After supporting Truss, she was appointed leader of the House of Commons and president of the Privy Council, a group of advisers to the king made up of members of Parliament and the House of Lords.

In 2019, Mordaunt made history by becoming the UK's first female Defense Minister – a natural choice for a reservist who had previously served as Minister of the Armed Forces when the Prime Minister was David Cameron.

So far, Mordaunt has received support from Representatives John Lamont, Maria Miller, Bob Seely and Damian Collins.

Boris Johnson

None of the potential candidates for the post is more famous than the politician who was prime minister until a few weeks ago.

Boris Johnson was forced to resign in July after a mass revolt by ministers and lawmakers.

In addition to other controversies, Johnson faced months of harsh criticism because of his participation in parties in Downing Street, the seat of the British government, in periods of lockdown in the pandemic.

The MP from Uxbridge, a town northwest of London, faces an investigation into whether he obstructed an investigation into breaches of the lockdown rules.

However, Johnson still has allies both in Parliament and among party affiliates in general. One of his longtime supporters is MP Nadine Dorries – she has argued that Johnson should return to the prime ministership as he received a mandate from the British public in the 2019 general election.

Other lawmakers who have already spoken out in favor of Johnson's return include Paul Bristow, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Andrea Jenkyns and Michael Fabricant.

Ben Wallace

While many Conservative Party leaders are divided, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is widely viewed by fellow lawmakers as a "man who inspires security."

Wallace has garnered increasing attention since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as the UK made an early decision to support Kiev with weapons and military training.

Despite his opposition to Brexit, Wallace has been a key supporter of Boris Johnson and was rewarded with a cabinet post in 2019.

Before becoming a politician, he served as a soldier in Germany, Cyprus, Belize and Northern Ireland, where he thwarted an attack by the extremist group IRA to carry out a bomb attack on British soldiers.

After Johnson left office, there were those who suggested that Wallace might run for office — mainly because he was leading Conservative Home polls — but he chose to support Truss, describing her as "authentic."

Kemi Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch surprised everyone by running in the most recent Conservative Party leadership race — and while she didn't win, the race helped to significantly boost her popularity.

Although she is a relatively young politician — 42 years old — she has gained the support of senior conservative Michael Gove.

Born in Wimbledon, south London, she grew up in the United States and Nigeria, where her mother taught psychology.

Before arriving at Parliament — where she represents the city of Saffron Walden — she worked for the private bank Coutts and for The Spectator magazine.

His most important government role to date has been leading the Department of International Trade.

Suella Braverman

Suella Braverman resigned as UK Home Secretary this week, a move that has increased pressure on Liz Truss.

The prime minister left office less than 24 hours later. Although Braverman's departure was linked to a data breach case, her angry resignation letter suggested that she did not agree with Truss's immigration policy.

Braverman says it is his "dream" to send immigrants to Rwanda who arrive illegally in the UK and criticizes leftist protesters, calling them "readers of The Guardian newspaper" and "tofu eaters".

The lawyer, who defended Brexit, was attorney general under Boris Johnson. She ran for the party leadership after Johnson's resignation, but was eliminated in the second round.

Her parents emigrated to the UK in the 1960s from Kenya and Mauritius, and both spent time in local politics – her mother was an adviser for 16 years.

Braverman was the first cabinet minister to take maternity leave — after the law was changed so that women in office could take paid maternity leave. Previously, women who became pregnant in office were expected to resign.