Johnson extends lead in PM race

160,000 Tories will decide between final two candidates to replace May

Boris Johnson, the front-runner in the race to become Britain's next prime minister, increased his support among lawmakers in the Conservative Party leadership contest on Thursday.

Johnson got 157 out of 313 votes. Environment minister Michael Gove came second with 61 votes, overtaking Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who got 59 votes. British Interior Minister Sajid Javid was fourth with 34 votes and was eliminated from the contest. Two votes were declared invalid.

A fifth ballot later on Thursday was scheduled to determine the final two candidates.

Johnson had strengthened his significant lead further on Wednesday, making the contest more about who would join him in the final two battling to lead the Conservatives.

On Wednesday, Rory Stewart was eliminated from the contest after he lost the votes of 10 MPs between Tuesday's second round and the third ballot, in which he was backed by just 27 MPs.

Prior to Wednesday's ballot, Stewart was the only remaining leadership candidate to have ruled out a no-deal Brexit and the only to argue that British Prime Minister Theresa May's existing EU withdrawal agreement could not be renegotiated with Brussels.

In a warning to those four candidates still left in the race for 10 Downing Street, he said: "My judgement, my professional, considered judgement, is that what I said is true.

"We will now see, between now and the end of October, whether people can deliver what they promised and my instinct is they can't."

After Thursday's vote, the hustings process begins across the United Kingdom and 160,000 party members will decide in a postal vote between the final two candidates. The new leader will be announced during the week of July 22.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd told the BBC she was not "resigned" to Johnson becoming prime minister.

"We haven't seen much of Boris," she said, adding that there were 16 hustings coming up over three weeks, with plenty of opportunities for members to decide who would be the best prime minister and "not just a good campaigner".

The leadership campaign has, so far, been dominated by Brexit - with the candidates criticizing each other's plans for getting the UK out of the European Union by the Oct 31 deadline.

Concern over backstop

British politicians' concern over the Irish border backstop arrangement was a key reason May was unable to win approval for her withdrawal agreement with Brussels.

Reports this week indicate Ireland is considering a no-deal Brexit budget for 2020, meaning it will slash spending significantly. It suggests that Leo Varadkar's government is prepared to resist any British pressure to make concessions on the backstop deal struck for the Irish border.

Irish Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said this week that Dublin would decide "later on in the year" which option to adopt for the 2020 plan.

The Financial Times reported that as the October budget is due to be unveiled only weeks before Brexit day on Oct 31, Irish government figures would base plans on the premise of a no-deal.

Donohoe will in the coming weeks outline the budget resources available in the case of an orderly Brexit and a disorderly crash-out on Oct 31.

Varadkar, Donohoe and ministers will have to choose by September at the latest which scenario to base the budget on.

A no-deal budget was emerging as the likelier option since there was unlikely to be clarity on Brexit by September, when budget preparations and negotiations would intensify.

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily 06/21/2019 page12)