Eurosceptic Suella Braverman was ousted as the contender with the fewest votes in Thursday’s poll of Conservative members of parliament.
Now, there are now five contenders left in the running to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The Details
The findings of the second ballot, which saw the lowest-placed contender eliminated, were announced today by the chairman of the inner Conservative Party “1922” committee.
The room was packed.
Suella Braverman, a supporter of Brexit, finished last after losing five votes from the previous round. Braverman became the third contender to be eliminated from the contest since nominations were closed on Monday.
The subsequent ballots will now take a break during the weekend; attention will instead turn to the broadcast leader’s debates scheduled for Friday night and Sunday.
While it is theoretically possible for a low-placed contender like Tom Tugendhat, it is much more likely he will try to turn things around by doing well in the public debates and gaining back support.
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— Arun Pudur 🇮🇳 (@arunpudur) July 14, 2022
The 358 Conservative Parliamentarians who are able to vote at this point will cast further ballots following the TV debates the next week.
Once the field has been reduced to two contenders, the winner will be chosen by a postal vote of every Conservative Party member in the nation.
The next Conservative Party leader will automatically become the next prime minister of Britain because the Conservative Party is the biggest group in the UK Parliament.
Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit movement, found it instructive that the Conservative Party acted so quickly to oust what he considered the sole legitimate Brexiteer on the ballot.
One of the significant aspects of the Brexit process that still needs to be completed is having Britain leave the European Court of Human Rights.
Attorney General Braverman was the only contender to say they wished to accomplish this.
In fact, some people, including some so-called Brexit supporters, believe Britain should just not leave the EU at all because the ECHR is a component of the Council of Europe.
How Will the Party Survive?
The Tory Party will use all of its resources to oppose the lone contender who wants to quit the ECHR, Farage wrote immediately after the news of Braverman’s withdrawal.
The outcome of the current election may very well depend on how Braverman’s followers vote. Observers have noted the relative similarity of Braverman, Badenoch, and Truss’ positions in different areas.
Some have even urged Badenoch as well as Braverman, who has less expertise in senior government positions, to withdraw from the contest and support Truss instead.
The race to be PM has been laced with social snobbery and active hostility toward the poor. So far removed from the lives of working-class people, the contenders are utterly incapable of understanding the depth of the current crisis.
Me for @BylineTimeshttps://t.co/XYia1aO34N
— Taj Ali (@Taj_Ali1) July 13, 2022
Truss could climb up to the second position if Braverman’s fans turn on her, but it’s far from certain.
While Liz Truss claims to have just come to believe Britain would be better with or without the European Union, Braverman was the Brexiteer’s Brexiteer in this contest. Liz Truss is a previous Liberal Democrat and a former remaining voter.
The fact that Braverman and Badenoch were pictured hugging outside of Parliament and mentioning their “enduring friendship” throughout the race speaks volumes about their tight relationship.