Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt in runoff for next UK prime minister

The final two candidates in the Conservative Party leadership election race to be the United Kingdom's next prime minister were decided on Thursday, with Jeremy Hunt selected to face off against Boris Johnson.

A field of four was whittled down to three in an afternoon ballot, when Sajid Javid was eliminated, before the remaining two were confirmed when Michael Gove was eliminated in the evening.

Boris Johnson got 160 votes, Hunt netted 77, and Gove 75.

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

Finance Minister Philip Hammond on Wednesday warned the two remaining candidates that they must have a "plan B" for Brexit, and that pursuing a no-deal Brexit policy means they must abandon any spending plans that they have.

His remarks in a speech to business leaders at Mansion House in London have widely been interpreted as a warning to Johnson, under whose leadership Hammond would most likely lose his cabinet position.

"There is a choice. Either we leave with no deal ... or we preserve our future fiscal space. We cannot do both," he said.

One of Johnson's plans, should he become prime minister, is to raise the 40 percent tax threshold from 50,000 to 80,000 pounds, which has been estimated to cost more than 14 billion pounds ($17.8 billion).

Hammond also said the next leader owed it to the British electorate to have a plan B in case any proposed Brexit negotiations with the European Union - which has yet to show any interest in new negotiations - are unsuccessful.

"The question to the candidates is not 'what is your plan?' but 'what is your plan B?," he said.

"If your plan A is undeliverable, not having a plan B is like not having a plan at all. So, the candidates need to be honest with the public.

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.

Before Wednesday's ballot, Stewart was the only remaining 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.

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

Contact the writers at jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com.

(China Daily 06/22/2019 page8)