Race for UK Tory leader extended to nine with early focus on taxes

Former Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt became the ninth Conservative MP on Sunday to put forward a bid to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the already unruly race promptly focused on taxes.

Mordaunt, 49, a former Navy reservist who has also held several senior ministerial posts, is not among the front-runners for Johnson’s successor in recent polls of Tory party members who are ultimately to choose their new leader .

But such contests are notoriously unpredictable, and with more than a dozen lawmakers from multiple factions of the ruling party potentially taking place, political commentators say few contenders can be ruled out.

The early favorite is former Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak, who launched his campaign on Friday after helping spur the cabinet revolt that led to Johnson’s forced resignation on Thursday. He’s now drawing fire from Johnson loyalists and rival candidates early on.

Sunak and former Health Minister Sajid Javid – who has also declared his candidacy – both resigned late Tuesday, prompting dozens of younger colleagues to follow suit.

That forced Johnson to retire 36 hours later as Tory leader.

But the 58-year-old leader, whose three-year tenure was marked by the scandal, the country’s exit from the European Union and the Covid pandemic, said he would stay until his successor is chosen.

Former Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt, who finished second behind Johnson in the last competition in 2019, announced he would be running again late Saturday.

Current Treasury Secretary Nadhim Zahawi – who was only appointed to the post on Tuesday – and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps have also made offers.

They join Attorney General and arch-Brexitee Suella Braverman, relatively unknown former Equality Secretary Kemi Badenoch and backbench Tory MP Tom Tugendhat on the growing list of candidates.

Secretary of State Liz Truss, a front-runner in recent polls, is expected to make an announcement.

But Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who impressed in the role and was one of Tory members’ favourites, said on Saturday he would not stand after a discussion with colleagues and family.

Taxation is already a major dividing line in the race as the UK faces the toxic combination of high inflation and rampant cost of living growth alongside sluggish growth and relatively high tax rates.

Javid and Hunt announced their deals separately in the Sunday Telegraph, pledging to cut corporate tax from 25 per cent to 15 per cent.

Javid said he would also cut or change other taxes, including reversing a recent increase in Social Security intended to boost healthcare funding.

“We cannot fall into a low growth trap like many other countries in Europe – we have to cut taxes,” he told the BBC on Sunday.

Hunt, Shapps and Tugendhat also laid out their pro-lower tax stance in Sunday morning television appearances.

But Sunak declared his candidacy in a slick video on social media ahead of the weekend and struck a different tone, warning Tories not to believe “fairytale” pledges.

Meanwhile, Zahawi’s campaign seemed in jeopardy early on after Sunday newspapers reported his personal tax affairs are being investigated by tax and customs officials – who are part of his finance department. He has denied wrongdoing.

The acrimonious campaign, likely to last for months, is set to be formalized on Monday when a committee of backbenchers meets to agree on the schedule and rules.

They could opt for an accelerated first contest, with the final two-person shortlist presented to Members, who will be decided within weeks before Parliament’s summer recess begins after July 21.

Party members will eventually vote from a two-person shortlist drawn up in multiple rounds of voting from all 358 Tory MPs, with the new leader expected ahead of the Conservatives’ annual conference in early October.

The party has declined to say how many eligible members it has, but note it will be more than the 160,000 who voted in the last leadership contest in 2019.

Conservative commentator Iain Dale said Sunday if a consensus candidate emerges, the contest could end without party members voting, as happened with Theresa May’s selection in 2016.

In a sign of the potential danger of a protracted struggle, the Sunday Times reported that some of the leadership teams had compiled so-called dirty dossiers containing compromising allegations against rival candidates and their aides.