Tuesday, July 26, 2022

THE PRAIRIE EDITOR: A New Elizabethan Age?



If the front-running finalist to be the next British prime

minister wins the mail-in election now underway, both

the head of state and head of government in the United

Kingdom will be named Elizabeth.


Queen Elizabeth II is already the head of state, and 

Elizabeth “Liz” Truss would become the head of

government.


The postal election by 160,000 qualified Conservative

Party voters is the final phase of the process by which

a successor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who 

recently resigned, will be chosen. A series of votes

among Conservative (Tory) members of Parliament has

now narrowed the original eight candidates to two.

Mail ballots will be tallied by September 5, and the 

winner will become prime minister on September 6.


Truss, the current British foreign minister, is opposed

by Rishi Sunak, the former finance minister. Truss

was generally considered the winner of their televised

debate just held, and leads by a big margin in a poll

just taken.


Truss considers herself to be a conservative in the

tradition of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,

and advocates lowering taxes. She is also a strong

supporter of Ukraine in its current war with Russia.

A Johnson loyalist, she did not resign as Sunak did,

and her support from other Johnson loyalists, was

key to her becoming a finalist.


Originally an opponent to Brexit, the British withdrawal 

from the European Union in 2020, Truss became a strong

supporter of the controversial action that succeeded

in a national vote. Brexit still has much support among 

Tory members of Parliament.


Should she become prime minister, she would not have

to face the whole British electorate for two years — 

when the five-year term won by Boris Johnson is ended

and a new election will take place. Johnson and the

Tories won a decisive victory over the Labour and

Liberal parties three years ago, but recent polls indicate

that Labour now leads the Conservatives among all

voters.


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Copyright (c) 2022 by Barry Casselman. All rights reserved.

 

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