MaltaToday previous editions

NEWS 8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 12 JUNE 2019 ON 7 June, Theresa May stepped down as leader of the Conserva- tive Party, setting the stage for the Tory leadership contest. May resigned, after the withdrawal agreement, which the govern- ment had spent two years' nego- tiating with the European Union was rejected by MPs by an over- whelming majority in March for the second time. The rejection of May's deal led not only to the UK being forced to extend the countries depar- ture from the Union until Octo- ber 2019, but also the participa- tion of the UK in the European Election. The UK's involvement, dealt somewhat of a fatal blow to May's government, with the conservatives only winning four seats, losing out to perhaps their most significant competitor Ni- gel Farage's newly established Brexit Party. May will stay on as Prime Min- ister and acting party leader un- til a replacement is chosen. The fiercely competitive race has already seen several candidates drop out of the running. Boris Johnson is the current front- runner. Environment Secretary Michael Gove is attempting to get back on track, after admit- ting he took cocaine when he was younger, while Dominic Raab has launched his leadership campaign with a climate change pitch. Here are the 10 contenders for the Tory leadership. Matt Hancock Matt Hancock, 40, is the cur- rent Health Secretary. He is the youngest of the declared candi- dates. Hancock replaced Jeremy Hunt as Health secretary on 9 July. Hancock was first elected as MP for West Suffolk in 2010. From 2013 to 2016 he served in David Cameron's government in a number of junior and middle- ranking ministerial roles, includ- ing skills minister and paymaster general. Last week Hancock admitted to having smoked cannabis, and is facing questions over other pos- sible illicit drug use. Michael Gove Michael Gove, 51, is the cur- rent Environment Secretary. Gove has been a member of par- liament for Surrey Heath since 2005. He was then appointed to the Shadow Cabinet by David Cameron in 2007 as Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. After the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010, Gove was appointed Education Secretary. Gove then served in the Cameron Government as Secretary of State for Education from 2010 to 2014 and Secretary of State for Justice from 2015 to 2016. Gove recently hit a snag, after he admitted on BBC's Andrew Marr Show, that he profoundly regretted taking cocaine in the 1990s. Boris Johnson Boris Johnson, 54, was the for- mer Foreign Secretary until he resigned 2018. Johnson has been a member of parliament for Ux- bridge and South Ruislip since 2015, having been the MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008. He was Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, and from 2016 to 2018 he served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Common- wealth Affairs. Johnson became a prominent figure in the success- ful Vote Leave campaign. His supporters have praised him as an entertaining, humor- ous, and is popular among tradi- tional Conservative voters. How- ever, he has been criticised by figures on both the left and right, who accused him of elitism, dis- honesty, laziness, and using rac- ist and homophobic language. Mark Harper Mark Harper, 49 was a former Chief Whip. Harper was elected as the MP for the Forest of Dean in 2005 and has maintained his position since then. He has served in various ministerial po- sition and has openly acknowl- edged that he is an "underdog." . In the first of many reshuffles, Harper was promoted to Min- ister of State for Immigration in 2012. Harper was then promoted to Chief Whip, after the Con- servative general election victory in May 2015, a position he main- tained until July 2016. Jeremy Hunt Jeremy hunt, 52, is the current Foreign Secretary. Hunts has been the member of parliament for South West Surrey since 2005. Hunt has been character- ised as a "metropolitan liberal," and campaigned for remain in the 2016 EU referendum. In June 2018, Hunt became the longest-serving Health Secretary in British political history, the fol- lowing month, he was appointed Foreign Secretary, following the resignation of Boris Johnson. Sajid Javid Sajid Javid, 49 is the the current Home Secretary. Javid has been the member of parliament for Bromsgrove in Worcestershire since 2010. He was later pro- moted to Economic Secretary to the Treasury and later Financial Secretary to the Treasury. He was appointed to his cur- rent role as Home Secretary in April 2018, following the resig- nation of Amber Rudd. Andrea Leadsom Andrea Leadsom, 56, is the for- mer Leader of the House. Lead- som rose quickly through the ranks of the Conservative Party after first being elected as an MP in 2010 and found herself in the running to become Prime Min- ister following the resignation of David Cameron in 2016. Leadsom was made the leader of the House of Commons on June 2017 following the snap general election. In June 2019 Leadsom admit- ted to smoking cannabis at uni- versity following Michael Gove's cocaine confession. Esther McVey Esther McVey, 51, is the former Work and Pensions Secretary. She became the first and only Conservative MP to get elected in Merseyside since 1997 in 2005. In 2012 she was appointed Min- ister for Disabled people, and in 2013 she was made the Minister of State for Employment. In January 2018, she was ap- pointed Work and Pensions Secretary by Theresa May be- fore her resignation nine months later. McVey quit the role, over the prime ministers soft Brexit deal with the EU. She has been described as the most "aggres- sive" opponent to May's with- drawal agreement during a cabi- net meeting the day before she resigned. Dominic Raab Dominic Raab, 45, was the former Brexit Secretary un- til he resigned in November 2018. Raab left the civil service for hard politics in 2006 be- coming chief of staff to Tory shadow home secretary Da- vid Davis. He was elected MP for Esher and Walton in 2010 and joined the government in 2015, quickly rising through the ranks. During his time as a junior minister in the Ministry of Jus- tice, Raab tried to get prisoners with sentences of longer than a year deported. He also led de- bates against a European Court of Justice decision giving at least some prisoners the right to vote. In July 2018 he replaced David Davis as Brexit Secretary, however he only lasted five months in the role, resigning in protest of Theresa May's Brexit deal. Rory Stewart Rory Stewart, 46, is the cur- rent Secretary of State for International Development. Stewart has acted as the MP for Penrith and the Border for nine years. Stewart has served in May's government and in David Cameron's government before as the Minister of the Environment. Stewart was awarded an Or- der of the British Empire award for his work during his time spent as the Coalition Provi- sional Authority Deputy Gov- ernorate Co-Ordinator in May- san and Deputy Governorate Co-ordinator/Senior Advisor in Dhi Qar following the inva- sion of Iraq. In 2016, Stewart supported Remain, and is now in favour of a soft-Brexit, having told Sky News that he wouldn't be able to serve in a cabinet that would push for a no-deal Brexit. Meet the 10 contenders for the Tory leadership 7 June Theresa May resigns as Prime Minister 10 June Candidates submit nomi- nations: candidates need proposer, seconder, and six other supporting MPs 13 June First ballot of MPs: candi- dates need at least 17 votes to go through to the next round. If all candidates get at least 17 votes, the candi- date with the lowest votes is eliminated 16 June Candidates debate on Channel 4 18 June Second Ballot of MPs: can- didates need at least 33 votes to go through. If all candi- dates get 33 votes, the can- didate with the lowest votes is eliminated. 19 June Third ballot held if needed 20 June Fourth and fifth ballots if necessary. Ballots will con- tinue until only two candi- dates remain 22 June First Justin's event for the Tory party members. Fur- ther hustings take place over the next few weeks. Ballot papers sent out to all party members 22 July Results of member ballots announced this week Leadership contest timeline

• Cover