UK: Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak hold talks amidst leadership race

With British Prime Minister Liz Truss stepping down as the country’s leader, the governing Conservative Party is set to vote on a new leader and prime minister. With former prime minister Boris Johnson re-entering the race, he held talks with his former finance minister Rishi Sunak.

Local media reports said Sunak and Johnson held in-person talks Saturday, shortly after Johnson returned to London, aiming to re-launch another bid to become the country’s prime minister for a second term.

Neither Sunak nor Johnson has yet to publicly announce that they are entering the leadership race to replace Truss as prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party.

Truss announced last week that she was resigning as prime minister and Conservative Party leader after 44 days in office. Candidates have until Monday to secure the support of at least 100 Conservative lawmakers and enter the election.

Few details were revealed about the meeting between Sunak and Johnson, and the Sunday Telegraph reported that Sunak and Johnson were set to discuss “agreeing to a joint ticket” to avoid a “civil war” within the governing party. However, according to the Daily Mirror columnist Susie Boniface, a joint bid by Sunak and Johnson was unlikely.

“We need to remember these two men actually detest each other. They do not get on, they don’t see eye to eye,” Boniface told Al Jazeera.

The meeting over the weekend is believed to be the first of such meeting in months since Sunak’s resignation as Johnson’s finance minister helped trigger the government exits that forced Johnson to step down back in July.

The current leadership race is set to take only a week and the rules state that only three candidates will be able to reach the first ballot on Monday, with the vote on the final two on Friday.

Even as Sunak has yet to declare that he is re-entering the leadership race, the former finance minister has already secured the backing of over 100 Conservative lawmakers, making him qualify for the first round. Sunak’s supporters said Friday last week that the former finance minister has already received 100 nominations from Conservative lawmakers.

Sunak will automatically become the new prime minister and Conservative Party leader if his opponents do not receive the 100 votes needed to qualify.