Trio joins contest to succeed Johnson

A trio of Conservative heavyweights, including former health ministers Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt, have joined the race to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, extending the field to eight contenders in the already acrimonious leadership contest.

Mr Javid (pictured), also a former finance minister, and Mr Hunt, who was runner-up to Mr Johnson in the last contest in 2019, were joined on the growing candidate list by current Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi, who was only appointed last Tuesday.

None of the trio are frontrunners in recent polls of Conservative party members who will ultimately choose their new leader and Mr Johnson’s replacement, but are among the most high-profile to have launched campaigns so far.

Hours earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he would run, adding another candidate to the typically unpredictable political contest, but Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who has impressed in the role and been one of Tory members’ favourites in recent surveys, announced he would not run.

The likely months-long campaign, potentially pitting more than a dozen Conservative MPs and multiple factions of the ruling party against each another, is set to be formalised on Monday when a committee of backbenchers will meet to agree the timetable and rules.

The early frontrunner is former finance minister Rishi Sunak, who helped kickstart the revolt that led to Mr Johnson’s resignation on Thursday.

Mr Johnson, whose threeyear premiership has been defined by scandal, Brexit and Covid, said he would stay until his successor was selected.

Attorney-General and arch-Brexiteer Suella Braverman, the relatively unknown former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, and backbench Tory MP Tom Tugendhat have also announced their candidacies. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is among those expected to join the field.