Now that Britain’s Conservatives are busy looking for a new leader (to be announced on September 5), the Labor Party plans to topple their government, which the fall of Boris Johnson as prime minister has left badly weakened. The largest opposition formation will present a motion of censure against the Executive this Tuesday for a vote on Wednesday, according to a party source revealed to Reuters.
If a majority of MPs vote to topple the Johnson government, an election could be called in the UK, although it is unlikely that the motion will have the necessary votes for this purpose, as it would require the support of some conservatives. .
The Conservative Party currently trails Labor in the polls and, in the midst of a leadership election process, ruling party MPs are not expected to decide to back a motion that could send voters back to the polls.
Johnson resigned last week after more than 50 government ministers and advisers resigned in protest at his leadership, but he will remain acting leader until his replacement is chosen on September 5. However, the leader of the Labor opposition, Keir Starmer, threatened yesterday to present a motion of censure in the House of Commons to force his immediate departure.
At least eleven candidates have applied to succeed Johnson, including the one who was economy minister during the pandemic, Rishi Sunak, and the still foreign minister, Liz Truss. While Sunak already has 36 nominations, other colleagues are expected to fall by the wayside by failing to collect them.
Although the former chancellor of the Exchequer is the favorite of the bookmakers, a poll among the Conservative bases yesterday threw Penny Mordaunt, currently Secretary of State for Trade who was previously Minister of Defense in the Theresa May Executive, in first place.
The affiliates also support the relatively unknown Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Equality, and Sunak in third place, while the last positions are occupied by Sajid Javid – Minister of Health whose resignation on Tuesday precipitated the fall of Johnson-; Grant Shapps, Minister for Transport; and the Minister of the Interior, Priti Patel – who has not yet confirmed if she will run.
