Who will be Britain’s next prime minister after Boris Johnson? The possibilities explained

He remained defiant and survived many a challenge. But no more. Boris Johnson has resigned as leader of the Conservative Party after dozens of ministers quit his scandal-hit government. He will stay on as prime minister until a successor is in place.

“It is clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party, and therefore a new prime minister,” Johnson said outside 10 Downing Street.

There will now be a leadership election to pick the next Tory leader and PM. We take a look at who the frontrunners are.

Rishi Sunak

Indian-origin Rishi Sunak, who was the first to resign from his post as finance minister, is believed to be a top contender for the PM’s post.

He became an MP in 2015 for the North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond. Five years on, in February 2020, he was picked by Johnson and appointed Chancellor to the Exchequer.

The 42-year-old politician’s popularity soared during the pandemic after he announced a massive stimulus package for businesses and workers. But of late, he has earned criticism following a controversy over his wife Akshata Murthy’s (daughter of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy) tax affairs, his United States green card, and the cost-of-living crisis in the United Kingdom. His name also came up in the partygate – the scandal over lockdown parties at Downing Street – for which he was fined.

It was after Sunak quit, criticising Johnson’s leadership, that the resignations started to pile up at No 10.

Liz Truss

Despite the resignations of top ministers – Sunak and Sajid Javid – the foreign secretary had said that she was “100 per cent behind the PM”.

The 46-year-old was first elected as MP in 2010. She has held several Cabinet positions, the most important one was that of international trade secretary when she was tasked with negotiating post-Brexit trade agreements. Truss then went on to become only the second woman to lead Britain’s foreign office after Margaret Beckett in September 2021.

She had a key role to play in imposing sanctions on Russia and securing the release of Iranian-British national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after six years from Teheran.

Penny Mordaunt

Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, viewed in the Conservative Party as having strong pro-Brexit credentials, charisma and good leadership qualities, is the favourite to succeed Johnson, reports Bloomberg.

In 2019, she made history by becoming the country’s first woman defence secretary. However, she was sacked when Johnson came to power.

She has maintained a low profile since then and is now a junior trade minister, who has called for “professionalism and competence” from the government.

Mordaunt served as armed forces minister under David Cameron. She is a former head of the Conservative Party’s youth wing and was a press officer for William Hague when he was party leader, reports BBC.

Ben Wallace

Defence Minister Ben Wallace’s name has also come up as a contender for UK’s top job.

A former soldier, Wallace has largely maintained a low profile. But his popularity has increased in the last three years, more so since February after Russia invaded Ukraine. He has grabbed eyeballs as the UK was among the first few nations to back Kyiv with arms and has won praise for his handling of the crisis.

He was among the Tory leaders who opposed Brexit but had led Johnson’s 2017 leadership campaign, which was unsuccessful.

Sajid Javid

Sajid Javid stepped down as health secretary minutes after Sunak announced his resignation on Tuesday. Slamming Johnson in his letter, he said that “the problem starts at the top”.

He was in the running for the prime minister’s post in 2019 and even made it to the final four. However, he dropped out to back Johnson.

Javid has served as chancellor but stepped down at the beginning of 2020 when he refused to allow No 10 to pick his advisers. He has also served as home secretary, housing secretary, business secretary and culture secretary in the past.

Born to a Pakistan immigrant bus driver, Javid lived above a shop in Bristol. He became a high-profile investment banker before taking a plunge into politics.

Jeremy Hunt

In the 2019 leadership contest, the former foreign secretary came second to Johnson. Now his once again a frontrunner for the PM’s post.

He was the chair of the Commons Health Committee and looked at government policy during the pandemic. He is also leading an investigation against Johnson’s response to COVID. He joined the government in 2010 as culture secretary and also helmed the health department.

Nadhim Zawahi

He was appointed as the new finance minister after Sunak quit, only to publicly as Johnson to resign today.

“This is not sustainable and it will only get worse, for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country,” Zahawi said on Twitter. “You must do the right thing and go now.”

He took on the responsibility of vaccines minister during the pandemic and was applauded for UK’s successful rollout.

Born in Iraq in 1967, Zahawi and his family were forced to flee when Saddam Hussein came to power. He studied chemical engineering and then set up a firm selling Teletubbies merchandise. He made a fortune after founding the online polling company YouGov, reports BBC.

Micheal Gove

Johnson, who was desperately clinging to power, dismissed Communities Secretary Micheal Gove for telling him to resign. He was reportedly the first Cabinet member to confront the leader with the message that he must go for the good of the Tory party and country.

He has run twice for Conservative Party leader and prime minister. In 2019, he came third to Johnson and Hunt.

During Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum campaign, Gove was Johnson’s main man. One of the longer-serving ministers in the British Cabinet, he was the education secretary, the chief whip, the justice secretary, and is currently serving as levelling up secretary.

With inputs from agencies

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