Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is leading the race to replace Liz Truss to reclaim his old position as he gains traction against Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.
Britain has now found itself back where it was before, with many citizens seeing the same faces competing for the region's third prime minister spot in just eight weeks, being left to watch on the sidelines.
Potential Boris Johnson Comeback
Supporters of the three front-running candidates were quick out of the blocks on Friday, making their pitches for why their chosen individual should win the race. Some argued that Johnson could make a comeback amid an active Bring Back Boris movement.
The former prime minister was out on a Caribbean vacation at the time when Truss announced her resignation on Thursday. His ally, James Duddridge, said that Johnson was flying back with the idea, "We are going to do this. I'm up for it."
On the other hand, the favorite of the bookies is Sunak, who is the former finance minister who fell to Truss in the last leadership race. He was able to anticipate Truss's plan to cut taxes and increase debt "fantasy island" economics, as per the Washington Post.
But the only formally-declared candidate as of Friday evening was Mordaunt, who is the Tory leader in the House of Commons. Not many in the public know of him but the polls show him with favorable numbers with Conservative Party members.
In a Twitter post, Mordaunt said that he was encouraged by support from his colleagues who wanted a fresh start for the country with a united party and leadership in the national interest. Now, most of the complexities of the race are happening behind the scenes.
According to Reuters, the candidates who are looking to replace Truss must secure 100 nominations from Conservative lawmakers by Monday. Truss succeeded Johnson after the latter was ousted by his colleagues in July.
Shoring up Support
The Conservative Party hopes that the contest will revive its ailing fortunes as opinion polls suggest that lawmakers would be all but wiped out if a national election were held now. Five cabinet members have already expressed their support for Johnson as Sunak became the first candidate to hit the threshold to enter the contest before the deadline on Monday.
But a recent tally of Conservative lawmakers who have already made public declarations of support put Sunak with 70 supporters, Johnson with 37, and Mordaunt with 20. Johnson's support among lawmakers came as a YouGov poll showed that 52% of the people asked said they would be unhappy to see the former prime minister return to his post.
William Hague, the former Conservative leader, said that Johnson's return was possibly the worst idea that the official has had in almost half a century as a party member. Hauge noted that the decision would lead to a "death spiral" for the Conservatives.
When the race for prime minister only has two candidates left, the vote will be opened to the roughly 170,000 lawmakers who make up the Conservative Party. But not everyone in Johnson's party or his former cabinet is convinced that he could achieve a sweeping comeback against his rivals, Fox News reported.
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