British Transport Minister Grant Shapps joins the pack of candidates to succeed Johnson

July 9 () –

British Transport Minister Grant Shapps announced on Saturday his intention to stand as a candidate to succeed Boris Johnson as UK Prime Minister.

Shapps has been running to lead a “tactical government on behalf of an often forgotten center”, according to the British press.

However, the news of the day was the announcement by Defense Minister Ben Wallace that he is resigning from leading the Government despite being considered by analysts to be one of the best positioned.

“After careful consideration and consultation with colleagues and family, I have made the decision not to enter the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party,” Wallace said in a message posted on his Twitter account. “It has not been an easy decision to make,” he added, “but I want to focus on my current job and on protecting this country.”

The race to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the UK Conservative Party and, by extension, as Prime Minister this past Friday presented its first big name, that of former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, while the rest of the favorite theorists would be weighing their options before taking the final leap.

Sunak resigned from the post on Tuesday, in a coordinated action with the then head of Health, Sajid Javid, which triggered a cascade of dozens of resignations in the two days that followed, until Johnson ended up appearing at the gates of Downing Street to announce that he would not he would continue as leader of the party and, therefore, as prime minister.

Shapps and Sunak join a short list that until now only included Deputy Tom Tugendhat and Attorney General Suella Braverman, although neither of them is in the pools among the potential candidates with options to replace Johnson.