The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom has a reputation for being ruthless when it comes to ousting their leaders. Boris Johnson is just the latest to fall victim to his party, perhaps as a result of karmic justice having been a leader in the revolt that ousted Theresa May in 2019. Sir Iain Duncan Smith lost a confidence vote while he was Leader of the Opposition in 2003, making him the first Tory leader not to fight a General Election. Even the late Margaret Thatcher wasn’t immune to the Conservative duplicitousness, being forced out of office in 1990 after a Cabinet revolt.

This latest mutiny is perhaps more surprising, however, as it comes less than three years after the last one, for a leader who won a landslide majority at the last election and who hasn’t had much time to get on with ‘business as usual’ due to a once in a century pandemic crisis. But, after a series of scandals, on 7^th July 2022, Johnson was forced to resign as Prime Minister, triggering the start of a Conservative Leadership contest.

In anticipation of the first televised debate between the final two candidates later today, a new DRD report titled Conservative Leadership Election 2022: Who will be our next Prime Minister and what will they do? will look at what has happened so far, what happens next, who the final two candidates are and what policies they may introduce should they become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

*‘Conservative Leadership Election 2022: Who will be our next Prime Minister and what will they do?.’ Click here to download a full copy of the report.