The race to succeed Boris Johnson as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister will begin in earnest this week as the rules of the contest are set out by the backbench 1922 committee.

At the last count, eleven MPs had thrown their hats in the ring. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is the clear favourite to win the race, with today’s newspapers proclaiming that the poll of the last two standing will consist of Sunak and one of the other ten.

One of the most significant debates is over taxation, with Sunak implying that those candidates promising tax are simply playing to the crowd, since the funding for such a policy will need to be found from somewhere.

The opposition parties continue to criticize Boris Johnson for clinging to power by insisting that he remain in office until his replacement is elected. There have even been suggestions that a number of the replacements announced by Johnson, in the wake of last week’s mutiny, have been selected to make the new leader’s job more difficult.

The economy continues to falter as inflation shows little sign of abating. Price rises, particularly in foodstuffs, have become so stark that shoppers notice many items increasing in price week by week.

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