Diversity in Politics: Tory MPs from various racial backgrounds come forward as leadership candidates

Image by Parliament UK/The Spectator

In what is being seen as a diverse race to become the next Prime Minister, former Chancellor of the UK, Rishi Sunak, is currently leading the campaign to replace Boris Johnson after he announced his resignation. 

The ten candidates who have come forward in the race to be elected as the next PM of the country include Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Pakistani-origin former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, Goan-origin Attorney General Suella Braverman, Iraqi-origin Nadhim Zahawi, Nigerian-origin Kemi Bedanoch and Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also announced on Monday that she will be joining the Tory leadership race.

As part of his campaign, Sunak promised that he “will protect women’s rights and ensure women and girls enjoy the same freedom most males take for granted in feeling safe from assault and abuse.” 

The son-in-law of Indian billionaire businessman Narayana Murthy, Sunak pledged that as a PM he would ‘restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country’. However, he has not yet spoken about his plans on tax cuts if he is elected, despite the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

British Pakistani MP Sajid Javid, who is the former Health Secretary of the UK also launched his bid saying that he will be enabling ‘wide-ranging tax cuts, including cancelling next year’s scheduled hike in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent and instead gradually reduce it by 1p a year to 15 per cent’. 

Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who lost to Boris Johnson in his previous campaign by a close mark, has expressed his plans to ‘reduce corporation tax to 15 per cent in the Budget later this year if elected’.

Nadhim Zahawi said that he will cut taxes for “individuals, families and businesses” while Shapps promised to cut taxes for the poor.

Since the Conservative Party is said to be ‘traditionally low-tax favouring’, the focus of the race has so far been on tax cuts by the candidates to get more support for their respective campaigns.

Through several rounds of voting, ultimately the leadership contest will be between two of the most successful Tory MPs before the party elects its leader and the future PM of the UK. According to sources, the next leader will be announced in early September this year.

Only eight MPs now remain in the race after Sajid Javid decided to step back and Priti Patel chose not to take part. The current list of candidates includes Sunak, Braverman, Zahawi and Badenoch, among others.