Son-In-Law Of Infosys Co-Founder Can Become UK Prime Minister? These Are Candidates For UK PM

Last week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stepped down as the prime minister and will only hold the position until a new leader is selected.

Since it was a landslide victory for the conservative party, there will not be a need of having polls again. 

It will be the next week that the a small group of Conservative legislators inside Parliament — known as the 1922 Committee — will determine the rules for a new leadership contest that will help select Johnson’s replacement from among the 350 or so Conservative lawmakers. The winner of that Conservative Party contest from the United Kingdom’s parliamentary system will in turn become the new British PM.

It was during a similar process that Johnson emerged as a leader and it has been quite some time that few of his longtime allies and opponents have expressed their interest in vying for the country’s top political job.

Following are the most eligible replacements of Johnson.

Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak has served as chancellor of the Exchequer — Britain’s second most senior political office, overseeing the treasury since 2020. And, he is the son-in-law of Narayan Murthy, founder of Infosys, which is India’s 2nd biggest IT services firm.

It was his resignation that caused a ripple effect and led to the resignations from the government, eventually leading to the stepping down of Johnson. 

Elected as a lawmaker in 2015, he was a former investment banker. He rose to prominence and popularity after announcing a series of policies from his treasury department which provided many citizens with financial support.

However, something that has tampered his image is his wealthy wife’s tax affairs and a criminal fine for breaching lockdown rules dented his reputation as a competent operator.

Sajid Javid

Javid’s resignation Tuesday night also helped precipitate the Cabinet rebellion that led to Johnson’s own resignation as Conservative leader. He was a former treasury chief and, until recently, the country’s health secretary. 

He was elected to Parliament back in 2010, after being a trader at investment banks Chase Manhattan and Deutsche Bank. 

Javid competed with Boris for the Conservative leadership, after the resignation of previous Prime Minister Theresa May. Her resignation came in the midst of a painful, long-running legislative saga over Brexit. Lated Javid endorsed Johnson, however, as his finance minister he clashed with Johnson over the ability to choose his own advisers and stepped down. After another ministerial scandal in 2021, he returned to the government role. 

During a speech many considered the obvious starting gun on a new leadership bid, he openly criticized Johnson’s leadership in Parliament.

Ben Wallace

Considered as a front runner for the position, Wallace is among the longer-serving lawmakers. 

He was a former soldier prior to serving in the Parliament and has earned laurels for his role as Britain’s defense minister in supporting Ukrainian military efforts to fight back against Russia’s invasion this year. He managed one of Johnson’s earlier aborted leadership campaigns following the U.K.’s referendum to leave the European Union, and has kept a low profile in recent months amid rising criticism of Johnson’s behavior.

He was among the soldiers tasked with returning the body of Princess Diana from Paris following her death in a 1997 car accident and has previously completed overseas military tours in Germany, Cyprus and Northern Ireland. Seen as a leading candidate in polls conducted with grassroots Conservative Party supporters and activists, so far he has declined to say whether he would participate in any leadership contest.

Suella Braverman

Focused on a variety of topics including personal injury, immigration and environmental law, Braveman has served as the current attorney general. She has represented various government departments during courtroom litigation. She has served in Parliament since 2015 and during May’s premiership she was made a minister in the Department for Exiting the European Union.

She voted against the against Brexit deals that May tried to strike with the EU and positioned herself as a Brexit hardliner.

She was the first serving minister to insist publicly that Johnson must resign and, almost in the same breath, said she would herself plans to run for the Conservative Party leadership in any subsequent contest.

Jeremy Hunt

He was runner up to Johsnon in the 2019 leadership contest, by chairing Parliament’s health committee throughout the pandemic Hunt has maintained a powerful presence outside the administration.

He scrutinized the policies of Johnson’s government. Over a a decadelong career in the British Cabinet, he served as the minister of culture, health and foreign affairs

His reputation suffered during his tenure as health secretary when budgetary restrictions forced him to cut services and clash with junior doctors, but he has recently published a book on patient safety in Britain’s National Health Service, and according to his broad support among Conservative colleagues, he is seen by many as a potentially safe pair of hands for the party and the country.