Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak? The answer is coming. The voting of the 160 members of the XNUMX members of the committee, which began at the beginning of August, concluded on Friday conservative party, called to elect their new leader and consequently the Prime Minister. In fact, in the United Kingdom, whoever leads the party that wins the election automatically becomes Premier.
After more than two months of government crisis which has paralyzed the action of Downing Street in one of the toughest periods for the British economy, on Monday 5 September the Tories will finally announce the name of Boris Johnson's successor. And it will be he or she who will have to face the enormous amount of problems that the country has found itself facing in the last period without being able to do anything to solve them.
Truss your way to a large victory
According to polls, there should be no story. The former foreign minister Liz Truss should win this electoral round within the Conservative Party against former Chancellor of the Exchequer (the equivalent of our Finance Minister) Rishi Sunak by a wide margin. The latest survey carried out by the British institute YouGov, published two weeks ago, spoke of a difference between the two candidates of around 32 percentage points.
Barring sensational reversals in the face, therefore, Liz Truss should become the new leader of the Conservative Party and la third female Premier in UK history after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May (both Tories).
The promises of the candidates: Truss vs Sunak
Inflation on the one hand, tax cuts on the other. The electoral promises of the two candidates are necessarily fortementand anchored in the present. The state of health of the former empire is, in fact, anything but reassuring.
According to the Bank of England, by the end of the year London will officially enter a recession, coming out (perhaps) only at the end of 2023. In July inflation has exceeded 10% and, according to estimates, in the autumn it will reach 13,3% to reach 18% in January 2023. In this context, the purchasing power of citizens has collapsed to historic lows and the country is facing a wave of strikes that threaten to paralyze it at least until the end of autumn.
Altar has therefore focused strongly on the contrast to the dear life and record inflation. To this end, he promised a package of measures to support families grappling with energy bills starting this winter and, in the wake of the old government (of which he was finance minister, we recall), direct aid to contain the surge of electricity and heating costs.
Trussing instead she set up a tough electoral campaign, using very aggressive tones that prompted several journalists and commentators to compare her to Margaret Thatcher. She has stated that, if she is elected, she “will focus onenergy prices for consumers and how to get the UK economy back on track”. The former minister also promised a massive and immediate tax cut, despite all economic forecasts pointing to a recession by the end of the year. As he explains The Post, Truss vowed to scrap 1,25% levy hike, scrap corporate profit tax hike (expected to start in 2023), suspend utility bills tax, and create low-tax and regulatory zones .
In this context, an important aspect must be considered: both Truss and Sunak, up to now, have addressed only the base of the conservative party: about 160 thousand people, 0,4% of the British electorate. An audience made up for the most part of rich, elderly men, residing in the south of the country. What they will do after and until 2024, confronting the real electorate (47 million people), could therefore be something else altogether. Also because, from 7 September, the conservative party will find itself chasing after. After the broad domain registered in the previous elections i Tories will have to make up the ground lost in the last few months. The summer polls are worrying, with Labor back at the top of the preferences of the interviewees with very large differences.
The official assignment at Balmoral: after 70 years Elizabeth breaks the tradition
Sir Graham Brady, president of the 1922 Committee, the body that brings together Conservative MPs not involved in the government, will announce the name of the winner on 5 September.
The official appointment will come the day after the announcement of the new Conservative leader. The Queen Elizabeth will receive the new British prime minister on Tuesday 6 September at his Scottish residence in Balmoral, an unprecedented event in his 70-year reign. Since the days of Queen Victoria, all prime ministers of the United Kingdom have been appointed to Buckingham Palace, except in the case of Herbert Henry Asquith who visited King Edward VII in the French city of Biarritz in 1908.
The reason for the historic change? The health problems of the Queen who, now 96 years old, would have received a "ban" from doctors from moving from one residence to another.
The official calendar for the day predicts that Elizabeth II will meet first Boris Johnson, who will have to officially submit his resignation in the hands of the Queen. Shortly after, the Sovereign will give the office of Government to his successor.
The new Prime Minister is expected to appear in the House of Commons on Wednesday 7 September Prime Minister's Questions.
