Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

UK rivals for PM hold first clash in front of Tory members

The result will be announced on September 5, and Truss has built up a strong lead in surveys of Tory members

UK rivals for PM hold first clash in front of Tory members

British Conservatives Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss Thursday underwent their first grilling in front of party members as they wage a bitter duel to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The hustings in Leeds, northern England, were the opening bout of 12 nationwide events as the grassroots members elect a new leader after a cabinet revolt forced scandal-hit Johnson to quit.


The result will be announced on September 5, and Truss has built up a strong lead in surveys of Tory members after vowing immediate tax cuts as Britain confronts a slump in living standards.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace used an editorial published in The Times daily after the hustings to throw his support behind Truss, saying she was the "only candidate who has both the breadth and depth of experience needed".

"From day one the new prime minister needs to know their way around the international community as well as the Treasury. Only Liz can do that," wrote Wallace, a popular figure in the ruling Conservatives.

On foreign policy, both rivals used the debate to extend Johnson's staunch support for Ukraine, and to resist China's increasingly authoritarian rise, while profiting from vaguely defined "Brexit opportunities".

The foreign secretary went to high school in an affluent suburb of Leeds, while Sunak's Westminster seat lies about an hour's drive north in the same county of Yorkshire.

Truss said her Yorkshire upbringing had given her "grit, determination and straight-talking".

"And that, my friends, is what I think we need now in Downing Street," she told the hustings audience.

She vowed to "channel the spirit of Don Revie" -- referring to a manager of the Leeds football club in the 1960s and '70s whose players were notoriously combative. Revie was also accused of bribery.

Former finance minister Sunak has denounced Truss's "fairy tale economics", vowing to tame surging inflation first, but has admitted that he is the "underdog" in the contest.

Their two televised head-to-head debates so far were fractious -- although the second on Tuesday was abruptly halted when the TalkTV moderator fainted live on air.

In Leeds, there was no such drama, but plenty of hard-nosed questioning from Tory members. The candidates went on stage one after the other, rather than squaring off at lecterns from opposite ends of a TV studio.

The members applauded co-chairman Andrew Stephenson when he observed that their party was poised to appoint Britain's third woman prime minister or its first one of colour.

Sunak joked that he had got a "great tan" after crisscrossing the Leeds region in rare sunny weather this week, and hailed his ethnic-Indian family's immigrant success story.

'Groupthink'

The wealthy former financier also hit back at caustic attacks from the Truss camp about his expensive tastes in fashion, which purport to show that he is out of touch with the ordinary public in hard times.

"This is not about what shoes I wear or what suit I'm wearing.

"This is about what I'm going to do for the country," Sunak said, earning applause, although he was also accused by one questioner of "stabbing Boris Johnson in the back".

Truss meanwhile was reminded at the hustings of her opposition to Brexit in 2016, and her student leadership of the Liberal Democrats at the University of Oxford when she called for the abolition of the monarchy.

"Almost as soon as I made the (monarchy) speech, I regretted it," she said. "I was a bit of a teenage controversialist."

Both the candidates vowed support for Johnson's "levelling up" agenda of revitalising growth in neglected regions of the UK including around Leeds.

Ahead of the hustings, Truss backed a railways investment project to help "turbocharge investment" in northern England, after Johnson and Sunak's Treasury scaled it back on the grounds of cost.

"The thing about me is I'm prepared to take on the Whitehall orthodoxy, I'm prepared to challenge the groupthink that has, over decades, not put enough investment into this part of the country," she said.

Addressing Britain's cost-of-living crisis, Sunak this week staged a U-turn to back more tax relief on household energy bills, which are set to rocket anew in October.

"I will grip inflation and get it back down," he said at the hustings, vowing tax cuts in the future.

(AFP)

More For You

World's richest actor Arnold Schwarzenegger

The magazine states that he began investing in property early in his acting career

Getty

World’s richest actor at 77 beats Tom Cruise, Shah Rukh and The Rock despite no film in 6 years

A recent list published by Esquire magazine has revealed that 77-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger is currently the world’s richest actor, with an estimated net worth of $1.49 billion (approximately £1.2 billion). The figure places him ahead of more active Hollywood stars, including Dwayne Johnson, Tom Cruise and Shah Rukh Khan.

The list, released earlier this year, ranks actors based on their total current net worth. While such rankings often include the biggest box office draws, Esquire's compilation stands out for placing Schwarzenegger, who has not had a theatrical release since 2019, at the top.

Keep ReadingShow less
Geraldine Viswanathan

Geraldine Viswanathan Steps Up in Marvel's 'Thunderbolts' Shift

getty images

Geraldine Viswanathan steals the spotlight in Marvel’s 'Thunderbolts' after Ayo Edebiri's exit

Geraldine Viswanathan’s path to Thunderbolts didn’t start with a blockbuster audition or a lifelong dream to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It began with oddball comedy gigs, local theatre, and stand-up sets at uni bars. From small parts in quirky Australian productions to sharing the screen with John Cena in Blockers, Viswanathan quietly built her Hollywood résumé until Marvel called.

When the offer for Thunderbolts came, she wasn’t gunning for the spotlight. In fact, she got the call while sick in bed. Director Jake Schreier pitched her the role of Mel, a sharp, loyal assistant to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s scheming Valentina Fontaine. It was a role vacated by Ayo Edebiri, and Viswanathan stepped in with zero superhero baggage.

Keep ReadingShow less
"Utterly disgraced": Judge condemns Judicial Appointments Commission

CASE LAW: The head of the Judicial Appointments Commission has been accused of misleading the tribunal (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

"Utterly disgraced": Judge condemns Judicial Appointments Commission

A senior official who worked for the body which appoints judges in England, and accused of misleading a specialist court, should be questioned again and so should his then boss, a tribunal has heard.

Abbas Mithani KC is taking legal action against the Judicial Appointments Commission [JAC] and Information Commissioner’s Office [ICO] because they did not give him full disclosure to three freedom of information requests [FOI] he made.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ambani family's lavish lifestyle and multi-million monthly spend

The family is also known for hosting extravagant events

Getty

Ambanis ‘spend over £2 million a month’: A look inside India’s most extravagant household

Mukesh Ambani, chairperson of Reliance Industries and India’s richest man, is known for leading an extraordinarily lavish lifestyle alongside his family. Their residence, Antilia, situated in Mumbai, is widely regarded as one of the most expensive private homes in the world.

The 27-storey building features six floors dedicated solely to parking for the family’s extensive collection of luxury vehicles. It also includes multiple helipads, private cinemas, and expansive living areas — all customised to reflect the Ambani family’s penchant for exclusivity and grandeur.

Keep ReadingShow less
Historic Papal Conclave Begins: Cardinals Cast First Votes

The voting process tends to conclude quickly once a clear frontrunner emerges

Getty

Voting for new pope begins as cardinals enter secret conclave

The process to elect the Catholic Church’s next leader formally begins on Wednesday evening, as 133 cardinal electors gather in the Sistine Chapel to choose the 267th pope. This ancient and secretive tradition, known as the papal conclave, is taking place following the funeral of Pope Francis.

The day’s events will start at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST) with a televised mass held in St Peter’s Basilica. The mass will be led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old Dean of the College of Cardinals, who also presided over the funeral of the late Pope Francis.

Keep ReadingShow less