Former British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Saturday supported her former employer as the most qualified candidate to succeed Liz Truss at 10 Downing Street. Boris Johnson was the former prime minister’s Home Secretary.
The Indian-origin MP declared that Boris Johnson has the public mandate from the 2019 general election to deliver for the Tories. She had been notably silent over her choice of Conservative Party leader during the previous leadership contest between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
In an apparent attempt to overcome the partygate scandal of COVID lockdown law-breaking parties, which critics have identified as a major obstacle to a Johnson comeback, the 50-year-old politician took to Twitter to claim that the former prime minister had a “proven track record” of making the right decisions.
Even though Johnson resigned himself six weeks ago following a string of scandals and widespread resignations among his ministers, many Tory MPs and the larger party still hold him in high regard. At least three Cabinet members, including Simon Clarke, Ben Wallace, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the secretary for business, have publicly declared their support for Johnson. As of right now, he has about 46 backers compared to Sunak’s 100, which is below the number needed to be included on the shortlist by Monday at 2 p.m. local time.
If only one candidate emerges by then, the UK could have its new Prime Minister in place by early next week. But if there is a contest between two shortlisted candidates, then the 170,000 Tory members will get an online vote to pick a new Tory leader by Friday.
It appears to be a three-way race as of now, with third-placed Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt releasing her campaign video in an effort to win over additional MPs and raise her current total of about 21.
