Britain’s Boris Johnson Will Not Run For Premiership
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
LONDON (Worthy News) – Boris Johnson will not stand in his Conservative Party leadership race, leaving Rishi Sunak very likely to become Britain’s next prime minister.
After cutting short a Caribbean holiday with his family, flying back economy class, Johnson spoke to rivals Sunak and Penny Mordaunt about his attempted political comeback.
However, Johnson said he is not running after only making it to about 60 declared backers by Sunday afternoon – well short of the 100-legislators threshold required to make it to the ballot.
The premiership was left open after the sudden October 20 resignation of Liz Truss following some six turbulent weeks in office, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British political history.
Johnson said he believes he would have been “well placed” to deliver a victory in the 2024 general election, but “this is not the right time.”
He reached out to Sunak and Mordaunt “to come together in the national interest” but acknowledged they didn’t reach an agreement.
Earlier, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed he is in the race to be the next Conservative leader, saying he wants to “fix our economy.”
GENERAL ELECTION
However, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer reiterated his call for a general election, adding, “any incoming government will have to pick up the mess.”
Cornwall-based analyst Tamas S. Kiss told Worthy News there had been a lot of internal pressure on Johnson not to participate in the upcoming party race.
“Had Johnson become the prime minister, the Conservative Party would have a lot of voters,” said in an interview with Worthy News. “He made a lot of promises that he never kept,” for instance, regarding the economy. “He barely raised the salaries of National Health Service after recovering from COVID-19 in hospital,” Kiss recalled.
“Britons did not forget that Johnson had parties while many could not even visit their loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
“They also see the negative consequences of Britain leaving the European Union, the Brexit Johnson advocated. There is now a lack of products reaching this island ranging from car parts to food parcels,” Kiss added.
Kiss complained that “for British politicians, it seems more important how they look on camera than whether they have expertise. Liz Truss was an example of that.”
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