I think the ministerial salary is an add-on to what they get as MPs - currently just over £84k
Quite why they might not take it all, I don’t know. Something to do with tax liabilities on pension contributions above a certain limit?
Boris is out and the odds trackers seem to suggest that Sunak has it in the bag though it’s still not clear what Mordaunt will do. An interesting development and you have to wonder what kind of backroom maneuvering has brought this about. Boris appears to have gotten the 100 nominations he needed and would have had a good chance to win with the members but seems to have decided against for reasons that are not clear.
Effectively the Tory party seems to have decided that giving the members a say is a bad idea and who can blame them? Any good inside reporting/tweeting on what exactly is happening within the party?
If Mordaunt gets 100 votes then I think it will be a repeat of the Sunak-Truss contest where Sunak lost, a major factor being Sunak not being white.
As to Boris having 100 votes, Boris has an honesty problem and a lot of people think he is lying about this.
Boris says he has 102 nominations. There is not remotely any actual evidence for this. Boris withdrew because he was about to fail.
People keep saying this, but where’s the evidence? Sunak lost because he was advocating for tax rises, and Truss promised tax cuts. That’s all the base care about.
Last time round, polls of the members showed Sunak well behind against every single opponent including Mordaunt. It clearly goes beyond tax cuts. Fundamentally the median Tory member does not trust Sunak. That may be partly down to race but also his enormous wealth and professional background at Goldman Sachs and with hedge funds. He is pretty much a shining example of the “global elite” that right-wing populists like to rail against.
It’s possible that the sheer magnitude of the Truss disaster will sober some of the members and make them re-assess Sunak but unless we see evidence of that, it’s reasonable to believe he would lose another member vote. So his best chance is to stop anyone else from getting 100 nominations. With 357 MPs I wouldn’t have thought that likely but it appears to be happening as per the odds trackers. Clearly the Tory insiders are desperate and realize that they need someone competent over the next two years and Sunak is a much better bet than Boris or Mordaunt. They seem to have figured out a way to get their leader without a members vote.
Indeed. No doubt there are racists among the Tory party membership, but on the other hand one of their current darlings is Kemi Badenoch. She would probably have done very well had she made it to the final ballot last time. E.g. I think she would have beaten Truss. She couldn’t get enough backing from MPs though. They also seem keen on Suella Braverman.
I think with Sunak it’s a lot about his wealth/lifestyle e.g. his wife’s non-dom tax status, and the perception (eagerly promoted by his opponents) that he “stabbed Boris in the back.” Yes, maybe a bit of racism too, but not the main thing.
Mordaunt is claiming 90 supporters (as though that was a good look with 90 minutes to go), but only 30 actually have publicly said so - and at least one of those is … less than firm in his support:
I’m thinking Sunak has the lock…
1.5 hours to go…
For those outside the UK news sphere: non-dom meaning that his wife reported herself as not domiciled in the UK for tax purposes.
Add the US resident “green card” he held for six years even while being MP and Chancellor. So, yeah, he comes across as very much “global elite” with both a political AND personal insinuation of divided loyalties.
Also there’s the notion of being perceived as a technocrat specialist who is suited for managing finances but not the kind to be a national “frontman” to get the Tories back in the voters’ good graces.
Well, that’s it folks. Results are in. Rishi Sunak takes the prize.
Mordaunt pulled out at literally the last 2 minutes.
I’m just praying he takes to opportunity to boot Rees-Mogg back to the backbenchers before he destroys half our worker protection laws.
Made a more specific new thread…
Not that I have anything in common with - or desire to support - the Conservatives, it is great that UK politics has reached the point where not only pasty white people can lead.
We will see for how long, but at least he is making history in a positive way.
For the record, I am a pasty white person with UK citizenship, though I don’t live there