Who is in the running to replace Liz Truss as prime minister?

Published

2 years ago

October 22, 2022

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Just two days ago Liz Truss declared she was a “fighter, not a quitter” in a defiant exchange with the leader of the opposition – a little over 24 hours later she had resigned.

Here, Sky News looks at the runners and riders to replace the prime minister.

Live politics updates as third cabinet member backs Johnson

The leader of the Commons was the first to announce a bid to become the next prime minister.

“I’ve been encouraged by support from colleagues who want a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest,” she said in a post on social media.

“I’m running to be the leader of the Conservative Party and your prime minister – to unite our country, deliver our pledges and win the next GE.”

She finished in third place in this summer’s Tory leadership race before she backed Ms Truss’s bid.

The former defence secretary caused a stir at the Tory conference earlier this month when she said the party’s “comms is s***”.

In messages shared in Conservative Party WhatsApp groups, leaked to Sky News, Tory MP Crispin Blunt called for Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt to take over.

“Step forward Rishi and Penny, with our support and encouragement in the interests of us all,” he wrote.

Ms Mordaunt was sent to the Commons on behalf of Ms Truss to answer an urgent question on the sacking of former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday. She denied that Ms Truss was hiding “under a desk”.

Former Commons leader Andrea Leadsom is among those who have publicly declared their backing of Ms Mordaunt.

The former chancellor, who was runner-up to Ms Truss in the Tory leadership race, is favourite with the bookmakers to replace her.

He warned his rival her tax-cutting plans would send the economy into freefall, accusing her of “fairytale economics” as she promised unfunded tax cuts.

Following the fallout from the mini-budget, supporters of Mr Sunak believe he has been vindicated. One MP who supported him in the leadership race told The Telegraph: “Everything he said has come to pass.”

Mr Sunak won every voting round among MPs in the Tory leadership race but there are question marks over whether he could reunite the party, having been seen to have played a key role in Boris Johnson’s exit as PM.

Many MPs have come out in support of the former chancellor, the most notable being former deputy PM Dominic Raab and former environment secretary George Eustice.

In his farewell address as PM, Mr Johnson fuelled speculation about a future return to frontline politics despite promising his “most fervent support” to his successor Ms Truss.

Mr Johnson compared himself to Roman statesman Cincinnatus, who battled against invasion before returning to his farm. According to tradition, Cincinnatus later returned to serve a second term.

Some Tory MPs are reportedly openly suggesting the party asks Mr Johnson to return to Downing Street, despite being ousted just three months ago.

Former culture secretary and ally of the former PM, Nadine Dorries, is one of those openly calling for Mr Johnson’s return.

“Only one MP has a mandate from party members and from the British public – a mandate with an 80 seat majority. Boris Johnson,” she said.

Jacob Rees-Mogg was the first cabinet minister to publicly declare his backing for the former prime minister, posting on social media: “I’m backing Boris #BorisorBust.”

In ruling himself out of the race, Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said he is “leaning towards Boris Johnson”.

Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke has also expressed his support for Mr Johnson’s return.

Sky News also understands former home secretary Priti Patel will back Mr Johnson if he chooses to run.

Although multiple Tory MPs have expressed their support for a Johnson comeback, he remains a divisive figure.

Foreign Office minister Jesse Norman said selecting Mr Johnson as Conservative leader would be “absolutely catastrophic”.

Sir Roger Gale, the senior backbencher, reminded voters in a tweet that the former prime minister, who resigned in a mire of sleaze, remains under investigation by the Commons privileges committee for potentially misleading the House over partygate.

If found guilty, Mr Johnson could face recall proceedings and potentially lose his seat in a by-election if he receives a suspension of 10 days or more.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for Mr Johnson to be blocked from standing as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister.

Ms Braverman was the first to declare she was running to be the next Conservative Party leader in the summer, praised as a figurehead of the right of the party for her hardline views on Brexit and for denouncing “woke nonsense”.

She threw her hat in the ring for the Tory leadership even before Mr Johnson had officially resigned.

“I love this country. My parents came here with absolutely nothing and it was Britain that gave them hope, security and opportunity and afforded me incredible opportunities in education and my career,” she told ITV at the time.

“I owe a debt of gratitude to this country and to serve as prime minister would be the greatest honour so yes I will try.”

After her shock resignation as home secretary on Wednesday for sharing secure information through a private email, Ms Braverman lashed out at Ms Truss’s “tumultuous” premiership and accused the government of “breaking key pledges” – including on immigration policy.

Ms Braverman, a former attorney general, only became home secretary on 6 September when Ms Truss brought her in to replace Priti Patel.

Her tenure was controversial, having accused Tory critics, who successfully forced Ms Truss into U-turning over plans to scrap the top rate of income tax, of a “coup”.

A source close to rising star Kemi Badenoch has suggested to Sky News that she is set to stand in the leadership contest.

“Now that the prime minister has announced her resignation, the party must unite around a new leader who restores trust in politics and delivers good government for the British people,” the source said.

“Kemi is in conversations with colleagues about how best to achieve this.”

Ms Badenoch stood in the Conservative leadership race over the summer, coming fourth behind Mr Sunak, Ms Mordaunt and Ms Truss.

Little known beyond Tory circles at the start of the race, the former equalities minister was a favourite among members to the right of the party.

Her summer campaign focused on cultural issues which she said had divided the party in recent years.

Sky News understands the current justice secretary is taking soundings on whether to stand in the leadership election.

It is understood he could stand on a possible platform of being a pragmatist and a unifier.

Mr Lewis did not stand in the last leadership election, instead backing outgoing PM Liz Truss.

He has also served as Northern Ireland secretary.

World

Tanks gather near Israeli-Lebanon border – as defence minister hold talks over ‘expansion’ of IDF activity

Published

8 hours ago

September 29, 2024

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Tanks gather near Israeli-Lebanon border - as defence minister hold talks over 'expansion' of IDF activity

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has held talks over the possibility of expanding Israel’s military offensive – as tanks were pictured on the country’s border with Lebanon.

In a statement on Saturday, Mr Gallant’s office said he was conducting “an operational situation assessment” regarding what it called “the expansion of IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activities in the northern arena”.

Israeli tanks and troops were later pictured near the border, in what Sky News’ security and defence editor Deborah Haynes said is the “clearest sign yet” that Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah is “about to expand even further”.

The military said it was mobilising three more battalions of reserve soldiers to serve across the country. It had already sent two brigades to northern Israel to prepare for a possible ground invasion.

The deployment comes after Hezbollah confirmed that its leader of more than three decades Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday.

The militant group – which is aligned with Iran – vowed to continue its fight against Israel even as attacks continued to bombard areas around Lebanon’s capital.

At least six people were killed in the strikes – not including Nasrallah – and 91 were wounded, according to preliminary figures from Lebanon’s health ministry.

The United Nations high commissioner for refugees said that airstrikes led to the displacement of “well over 200,000” people inside Lebanon.

“More than 50,000 Lebanese people, and Syrians living in Lebanon, have crossed the border into Syria,” Filippo Grande wrote on X on Saturday.

‘Israel is on the move’

In his first public remarks since the killing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Nasrallah as a “terrorist” and said his killing would help bring displaced Israelis back to their homes in the north and would pressure Hamas to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

But with the threat of retaliation high, he said the coming days would bring “significant challenges” and warned Iran against trying to strike.

“There is no place in Iran or the Middle East that the long arm of Israel will not reach, and today you already know how true this is,” Mr Netanyahu said.

“We have great achievements, but the work is not yet complete. In the coming days we will face significant challenges, and we will face them together,” he added.

“We are determined to continue to strike at our enemies, return our residents to their homes, and return all our abductees. We do not forget them for a moment.

“Israel is on the move.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the killing and announced five days of mourning. He said Lebanon will make Israel “regret their actions” and Nasrallah’s blood “will not go unavenged”.

In a letter to the UN Security Council, Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani asked for an “emergency meeting” of the 15-member body, calling on it to “compel Israel” to cease all military action in both Gaza and Lebanon and “comply with relevant UNSC resolutions”.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Tehran, waving Hezbollah flags and chanting “death to Israel” and “death to Netanyahu the murderer”.

People also gathered in the Lebanese city of Sidon and in Amman, Jordan, to mourn Nasrallah. The 64-year-old had countless followers across the Arab and Islamic world, but was viewed as an extremist in much of the West.

World

Is wider war in the Middle East now inevitable?

Published

10 hours ago

September 29, 2024

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Is wider war in the Middle East now inevitable?

The pictures from Beirut are unnerving to say the least, the predictions for the immediate future even more so.

With the dust still settling from this game-changing assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, there are pressing questions crying out for answers.

Most of all, is the Middle East about to erupt into a regional conflict that threatens us all? That’s been the warning for almost a year, so is it about to happen?

Not if America and its allies can help it.

Follow latest: Iran warns Israel will ‘regret their actions’

Hezbollah is a designated terrorist organisation for the US, UK and other Western nations. It has killed hundreds of their citizens over the years.

There is no doubt President Joe Biden has felt what he called a “measure of justice” that Nasrallah has been killed.

But there is also a fear of what comes next. From the president down we are hearing urgent calls for de-escalation and a diplomatic solution. And the US has rushed military assets to ward off Hezbollah’s patrons in Iran doing their worst. But will that be enough?

US-led diplomacy to contain the Middle East crisis has failed.

A senior Middle Eastern diplomat told Sky News the assassination is a kick in the teeth for the US president.

“For all the bombs and billions he has given the Israelis,” he said, “the least they could have done for him in the last weeks of his presidency was a ceasefire in the region”.

With diplomacy stalled, what happens next depends on both Iran and Israel.

For its part, Iran may feel it has no alternative but to weigh in. It may fear the massive missile arsenal it supplied is so jeopardised it must intervene and save Hezbollah.

Iranians have long regarded Hezbollah as an insurance policy for the day Israel might attack Iran itself. If it sees its ally close to total collapse, might it then weigh in?

If it does, Israel’s allies led by America might feel compelled to come to its defence. The full scale war feared for almost a year could engulf the region.

But there are good reasons for Iran not to rush to action.

The Middle East seems a dangerous and unpredictable place but certain rules and assumptions apply, even in all its chaos.

For all their fanaticism, the ayatollahs of Tehran are pragmatic and seek the preservation of their grip on power above all. That has been a rule of the Middle Eastern jungle since they seized power 45 years ago.

Is it pragmatic or wise to up the ante and more directly support Hezbollah, when it is at its weakest? The Iranian regime is not that strong either, crippled economically by sanctions and mismanagement, and socially and politically by months of civil unrest, albeit now quashed.

There are limits too to what Iran could achieve with direct military intervention anyway in a war that is 2,000km from its borders. The Iranians may conclude this round in the war against Israel is over. They think in long time spans, after all. Time to regroup and move on to fight another day?

There will no doubt be days more of sound and fury, like we have seldom seen before. The mourning and funerals of Nasrallah and his lieutenants are likely to be the focus of intense anger and will raise tensions. But what happens afterwards?

That also comes down to Israel.

It may now feel it has the wind in its sails and seize the moment to invade Lebanon on the ground to push Hezbollah back from the border. That would be an extremely dangerous moment too, potentially drawing in supportive militia and Iranian forces based in Syria.

The hills of southern Lebanon are a treacherous country for a military like Israel’s that relies on infantry and tanks. They could be drawn into a lengthy and punishing campaign that could then destabilise the region.

Then there is Lebanon itself. An uneasy compromise between the warring factions of its civil war in the 1970s and 80s has held for decades but its always fragile status quo is now threatened. The chessboard of its multi-denominational politics has potentially been upended by the removal of its most powerful player.

If Lebanon descends back into factional fighting, regional stability will be undermined too.

The Middle East is in grave danger of further escalation. Western and regional diplomats are working round the clock to pull it back from the brink but recent efforts have all ended in failure and neither Israel nor Hezbollah seem to be listening.

World

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah killed after Beirut airstrikes, Israeli army says

Published

22 hours ago

September 28, 2024

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Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah killed after Beirut airstrikes, Israeli army says

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been killed after airstrikes in Beirut, the Israeli army has said.

Recent weeks have seen Israel unleash a barrage of strikes against Lebanon after it turned its attention to the conflict at its northern border.

On Friday, Israel targeted the capital Beirut with a series of attacks claiming to have struck the headquarters of Hezbollah.

Israel-Hezbollah latest

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it carried out a “precise strike” on Hezbollah’s “central headquarters”, which it claimed was “embedded under residential buildings in the heart of the Dahieh in Beirut”.

The first wave of attacks shook windows across the city and sent thick clouds of smoke billowing into the air.

While Israel stressed it had been a “precise” strike, preliminary figures from Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed at least six other people were killed and 91 were wounded.

Israel said Nasrallah was the intended target and initially there were claims he had survived.

However, after several hours of confusion, his death was confirmed by Israel.

“Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world,” the IDF said.

Hours later, a defiant Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah’s death but vowed their fight with Israel would continue after confirming they had fired upon sites in northern Israel.

“The leadership of Hezbollah pledges to the highest, holiest, and most precious martyr in our path full of sacrifices and martyrs to continue its jihad in confronting the enemy, supporting Gaza and Palestine, and defending Lebanon and its steadfast and honourable people,” they said.

Alongside claiming to have killed Nasrallah, the IDF said it had killed a number of other commanders, including Ali Karaki, the commander of the southern front.

The country’s military said the strike was carried out while Hezbollah leadership met at their underground headquarters in Dahieh.

In the aftermath of the most recent attacks, an Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment on whether US-made Mark 84 heavy bombs were used in the strike against Nasrallah.

“The strike was conducted while Hezbollah’s senior chain of command were operating from the headquarters and advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel,” Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in a media briefing.

He continued: “We hope this will change Hezbollah’s actions.”

He added the number of civilian casualties was unclear but blamed Hezbollah for positioning itself in residential areas.

“We’ve seen Hezbollah carry out attacks against us for a year. It’s safe to assume that they are going to continue carrying out their attacks against us or try to,” he said.

Meanwhile, Iran said it was in constant contact with Hezbollah and other allies to determine its “next step”, but Reuters reported the country’s supreme leader was transferred to a secure location in light of the latest attack.

Speaking after the attack, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslims “to stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah” and said: “The fate of this region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront,” state media reported.

Nasrallah’s death will be a blow to Hezbollah as it continues to reel from a campaign of escalating Israeli attacks.

Nasrallah is latest Hezbollah leader to fall

While Nasrallah’s death is certainly the most high-profile of recent attacks, it continues a trend of Israel targeting Hezbollah’s leadership structure.

Also on Saturday, in the early hours of the morning, the commander of the group’s missile unit and his deputy were killed in another Israeli attack in southern Lebanon.