#Britains #Sunak #refuses #attack #Johnson #battle #leadership
Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday his campaign as Britain’s next prime minister will avoid any attempt to “demonize” Boris Johnson, despite having contributed to his dramatic ouster.
Sunak, 42, and another minister resigned last week in protest at Johnson’s scandal-ridden government, sparking a wave of government resignations that forced him to resign as Conservative party leader.
Johnson will remain Prime Minister at Downing Street until an internal party competition finds his successor. The result will be available on September 5th.
But the main opposition party, Labor, said it would try to force a vote of no confidence in the government to try and oust him sooner.
Labor leader Keir Starmer said the Tories’ actions over the past week have “concluded that the Prime Minister is unfit for the post”.
“You can’t have him now for weeks and weeks and weeks until September 5,” he argued. “That would be unbearable for the country.”
The motion of no confidence is to be voted on in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
– ‘Remarkable’ –
Sunak, who was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in early 2020 just as the Covid pandemic hit, is seen as one of the frontrunners for Tory leadership.
But he refused to distance himself from Johnson’s administration, in which he played a key role in supporting businesses and workers during the pandemic.
He called Johnson “one of the most remarkable people I’ve met.”
“Whatever some commentators may say, he has a good heart,” he told jubilant supporters after a Johnson ally accused Sunak of being a treacherous “snake”.
“But didn’t I agree with him? Frequently. Does he have mistakes? Yes, and so do the rest of us. Has it stopped working? Yes, and that’s why I quit.
“But let me be clear that I will not engage in any rewriting of history that aims to demonize Boris, exaggerate his mistakes or deny his efforts.”
Johnson’s departure was a spectacular sin for a politician who won a landslide election victory in December 2019 and took the country out of the European Union just a month later.
Sunak said he won’t be shy about praising it or acknowledging Johnson’s responsibility in the fight against Covid or his combative support for Ukraine.
“Some people might advise me not to say all this to piss people off, but that wouldn’t be honest,” he added.
“If I tell you what I think — positive and negative — it costs me the lead, so be it.”
– Voices –
So far, 10 candidates, including Sunak, his successor at the Treasury Department Nadhim Zahawi, and Secretary of State Liz Truss are vying to replace Johnson.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps withdrew and supported Sunak’s campaign. Justice Minister Dominic Raab also supports Sunak.
The candidates each need 20 nominations from Tory MPs by 1700 GMT on Tuesday, reducing their number ahead of a first vote on Wednesday.
If you do not get 30 votes, you are eliminated. A series of votes will take place through next week until only two remain in the running.
The members of the base party are then elected.
In his pitch, Sunak, who would become Britain’s first Hindu prime minister if successful, said he had a plan to see the country through tough economic times, not least the rising cost of living.
But unlike several other candidates, he said it was “not credible to promise much more spending and lower taxes”.
And he dismissed claims that being part of Johnson’s ailing government wasn’t the fresh start he claimed.
He said he has already responded to revelations about his wealthy wife – after it emerged she does not pay UK taxes – and that even during his tenure as chancellor he held a green card for a US stay.
Sunak and Johnson were also both fined by police for attending a lockdown party at Downing Street.
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