© EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL/TASS

The current week has turned out really stressful for the British lawmakers. This week was marked not only by the unprecedented heatwave in the British Isles because of which the MPs were allowed to violate the traditional dress code and take off their jackets and ties, but also by daily voting to choose the new Tory leader. Moreover, July 18 saw the House of Commons unanimously vote confidence in Boris Johnson’s government.

Let's start with the latter. The vote involving all the 650 members of the House of Commons has been held in the wake of renewed opposition calls for Boris Johnson’s immediate resignation, as he continues to act as Prime Minister until the new Cabinet head is appointed. Seemingly incredible, the vote was initiated by Johnson himself. He is thought to have taken the extraordinary step to save face after the tumultuous events that have led to his July 7 resignation amid accusations of lies and inappropriate behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, Boris Johnson's government won the Monday confidence vote by 349 votes to 238. By and large, it could not have been otherwise, since most seats in the House of Commons (358 out of 650) are occupied by the ruling Tory party hardly interested in an early parliamentary election. So, Boris Johnson remains head of the British government until September.

Now let’s turn to this week’s focal point, i. e. elections of the new Tory leader to automatically become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (that’s the way the state located on the British Isles has been officially called since 1927). By early this week, only five of the eleven initial candidates stood afloat, with the rest having dropped out in the previous two rounds of voting. Here they are: ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, Foreign Minister Liz Truss, Minister of State for Trade Policy Penny Mordaunt, Foreign Affairs Select Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat and former Undersecretary for Women and Equalities Kemi Badenoch.

Tugendhat left the race in the Monday vote, Badenoch was out on Tuesday, and Mordaunt abandoned hopes of becoming party leader on Wednesday. Thus, there are two candidates left – Sunak and Truss, who scored 137 and 113 respectively during the last vote. Now almost 200,000 ordinary members of the Conservative Party will have to choose the worthiest person to take over cabinet leadership by mail. The result will be announced on September 5.

Here is a brief introduction of each candidate. Rishi Sunak, 42, is an Indian billionaire rated among the United Kingdom’s 250 richest residents. However, he largely got there thanks to his wife Akshara Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire Narayana Murthy. He was boosted into power by his wife’s financial support ˗ a chink in his armor. It was him and Health Minister Sajid Javid who kick-started a cascade of resignations in Johnson's cabinet on July 5, announcing their wish to quit and publicly disavowing the incumbent prime minister. This move triggered a wave of 50 government resignations at various levels, forcing Johnson to leave office.

Sunak is an efficient person with deep economic insight, which is important amid the country’s deplorable situation. All of his actions and statements indicate resounding support for the Johnson government's policy of putting the screws on Russia following the outbreak of Ukraine’s conflict. He particularly urged halting investment in firms willing to support President Putin this way or another. For Russia, however, Sunak seems a better prime minister than Truss. This does not imply good fellowship with Moscow ˗ it is not even an option under the current circumstances. But his rationality may help ease the sanctions pressure on Moscow and somewhat limit assistance to Ukraine. This is what Boris Johnson is afraid of when he calls on the party members to waive supporting Sunak.

As for another PM hopeful, Liz Truss is an ardent Russophobe and urges launching a "crusade" against Russia all but every single day. As recently as on July 11, she said London should ensure Moscow's defeat in Ukraine. And the other day, Truss outdid herself and said she would call out President Vladimir Putin for a conversation in case of entering office as prime minister. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova crushed her on Telegram and called her "a poorly educated woman who already attempted to call out Sergey Lavrov in Moscow to «take the frills out him», when she did not even understand what she was talking about and confused geographical names".

Fellow countrymen refer to Truss as a "muttering fool" and sometimes even the "new iron lady". But she clearly falls short compared to Margaret Thatcher. In other words, Ms. Truss is up to no good for Russia. The only one glad to see her coming to power, according to Britain’s The Independent, is the opposition Labor Party, whose leader Keir Starmer will stand out better against her "dull" communication style.

The PM race final round involving a British Indian and a white lady gave an extra handle to talk about racism in the country. Although some experts call it a relic of history that has sunk into oblivion long ago, not all of their colleagues share this outlook and argue that ordinary Tories will opt for Truss during the vote to prevent Sunak from becoming prime minister. This has nothing to do with the candidates’ professional aptitude, and is only linked to their skin color – the Conservatives, driven by colonial history, loathe to have an Indian native as head of their country’s Cabinet. By the way, a recent Yougov survey among members of the Conservative faction in the British Parliament revealed that Sunak would eventually lose to any of his possible female rivals ˗ in this case, Truss.

Let's not forget a possible downward pressure on the voters, namely from Sir Michael Hinze, the Tory party "godfather" and major sponsor. British political analysts suggest it was him and cronies who planned the July "coup" in the Conservative Party and Boris Johnson’s resignation. It is entirely possible in this regard that these gentlemen may somehow affect PM elections either.

The name of the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will go public in early September. Whoever of the two candidates wins the race, Moscow should not expect any shifts of London's current Russia policy, as anti-Russian sentiment is too strong in all the social layers of Great Britain, especially in the top tiers of power.