Indian-origin Suella Braverman early contender for UK PM race

Even before Boris Johnson stepped out of 10 Downing Street on Thursday to deliver his resignation speech as Conservative Party leader triggering a leadership race for a new British prime minister the runners and riders had been lining up to compete for the top jobIndianorigin Suella Braverman currently the Attorney General in the UK Cabinet is among the early Tory members of Parliament to formally declare her leadership bid The 42yearold barrister and the governments seniormost legal official is likely to command some support within the proBrexit wing of her partyI am putting myself forward because I believe that the 2019 manifesto is fit for purpose presents a bold and inspiring vision for our country and I want to deliver on the promises contained in that manifesto I want to embed the opportunities of Brexit and tidy up the outstanding issuesand cut taxes said Braverman who is of Goan ancestryAnother fellow staunch Brexiteer Steve Baker also declared on air that he intends to throw his hat in the ring He is an influential Tory backbencher who served as chair of the European Research Group in favour of a hard Brexit dealBut the duo are largely seen as outliers and now with Johnsons formal resignation the other more serious bids are expected to start pouring in thick and fastIn the latest YouGov poll of Tory party members in The Daily Telegraph UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has emerged as the frontrunner to become the next Prime Minister The partys 1922 Committee is responsible for setting the timetable for a Tory leadership contestTo take part in the race a Tory MP has to be nominated by eight colleagues If more than two MPs put themselves forward and secure enough nominations to run for leader a series of secret ballots are held to whittle them down The YouGov survey indicates that Wallace may be in pole position if he chooses to contest and then makes it to the final two candidatesHe is on 13 per cent just ahead of junior minister Penny Mordaunt on 12 per centFormer UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak the Indianorigin minister who stepped down on Tuesday is also seen as a contender and is at 10 per cent in the survey FormerForeign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who came second in the 2019 Conservative leadership contest is on a joint 5 per cent alongside the new Chancellor Nadhim ZahawiZahawi former Health and Education Secretary and most recently Chancellor in the Boris Johnson Cabinet is believed to have already been working with Australian political strategist Sir Lynton Crosby the man behind Johnsons thumping general electoral win in December 2019 The 55yearold Iraqi refugee who arrived in the UK as an 11yearold boy is yet to formally declare his intention to vie for the top job but is seen as a serious contenderUK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is another key contender who is also believed to have been lining up her leadership bid over the last few months Shes currently at 8 per cent in the YouGov pollFormer health secretary Sajid Javid the Pakistaniorigin minister who was the first to resign from Cabinet this week is also seen as someone who might throw his hat in the ringSome of the other Conservative Party names doing the rounds include House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair Tom Tugendhat Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and recently sacked Cabinet minister Michael GoveThe final shortlist of candidates is expected to go head to head in a debate until a vote between the final two decides on the winner who will be the new Conservative Party leader and formally succeed Johnson as the new British prime ministerThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever