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By ESTHER WEBBER
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BREAKING THIS MORNING: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot this morning while giving a speech in the western city of Nara, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed at a news conference. Japanese broadcaster NHK said Abe, 67, who was campaigning for a local candidate ahead of this weekend’s upper house election, had been shot in the back with a rifle and showed no signs of life. Latest here.
Good Friday morning. Big thanks to the entire Playbook team — Eleni Courea, Emilio Casalicchio, Annabelle Dickson and Andrew McDonald — for featuring this week. Emilio is with you on Monday.
DRIVING THE DAY
PRIME MINISTER REQUIRED: The starting gun has been fired in the race to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and UK prime minister after Boris Johnson finally threw in the towel — sort of. His resignation came after a week of bitter upheaval and outright rebellion that ripped the Conservative Party at the seams. And most importantly, for St. Augustine from number 10, he promised to go, but not yet. He will remain caretaker prime minister until a new leader is found, which could take until the autumn. Meanwhile, he has pledged not to make major changes in direction, including on taxes, and can only watch as the party embarks on one of the most unpredictable leadership contests in a long time. The Playbook will tell you how the whole thing will work before presenting a quick guide for your potential new masters.
Key concerns: In his resignation speech to No 10, Johnson pledged to serve until a new leader is chosen. Perhaps inevitably, even the manner of his departure sparked controversy. Former prime minister John Major – possibly sensing that there will soon be even less demand for his strongly worded interventions – was straight out of the blocks, calling for Johnson to step down immediately and for Dominic Raab to be appointed as interim official. Several Conservative MPs have since echoed this, including former ministers George Freeman and Andrea Leadsom.
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For God’s sake, man, come on: In that vein, one Tory backbencher told Playbook: “He can’t carry on the ‘It’s all about Boris’ show.” No one trusts him to make the right decision for the country or the party.” A former cabinet minister said: “For the good of the country we must draw a line under this period of government and move on quickly. He took our party and government to a dangerous place on Wednesday. Now he really shouldn’t be playing a long exit on his own terms.”
Reading the room: Opinion is more nuanced among most of the party ranks. One senior MP, who called for Johnson’s departure this week, said: “Some colleagues are in Lord of the Flies ‘kill the pig’ revenge mode. They need to admit that dancing on his grave is rather indecent and we need to let him go with dignity once a new leader is elected. One minister noted that most of the comments on his Facebook page were from ardent Leave voters who believed Johnson had been sewn up by his party.
About this: The only thing MPs can agree on is that leadership elections should be held as soon as possible. POLITICO’s Emilio Casalicchio has a good idea of how it will work, with Committee 1922’s new executive director set to approve the process on Monday. MPs are expected to narrow the field to the final two before the summer and a new leader will be elected before the House returns in September. Seb Payne hears the same in the FT. After 1922 had agreed the plan, it went to the Conservative Party board for signature and they could argue that it should be a longer campaign with contests across the country.
Hustings mandatory? A senior party activist tells Emilio that he and others will run for election: “I believe that we should have a full contest and that it should go to the members and not be a coronation.” In his letter, Major suggested they bypass the grassroots to speed things up, but as Camilla Tomini writes in the Telegraph, some fear a repeat of Theresa May, who was not elected by members. POLITICO’s Tim Ross has a blogger’s guide to watching it all go down.
Here it is again: the country will therefore have its third prime minister in a row, originally chosen by the Conservative Party due to circumstances that have more to do with the Conservative Party than, say, a general election, in a process overseen by a 1922 committee. Graham Brady is having a hell of a season.
GAP WIDE OPEN: When it comes to choosing the country’s next leader, almost anything can happen. As things currently stand, MPs only need the support of eight other MPs to put themselves forward, but the Sun’s Kate Ferguson suggests 1922 could change the rules and increase the requirement to 20 names. As James Forsyth says in his Spectator script, “Tory leadership races are always more like the Grand National than the Derby: crowded, unpredictable and with the favorite often underwhelming.”
This just in: Playbook hears Priti Patel is considering a leadership bid. She has long been a favorite of ordinary Tories and may feel that this is her moment, although her time in charge of the Home Office has not convinced everyone that she is a firm hand on the tiller.
Dream ticket: Several Conservative campaigners and aides spoke thoughtfully to Playbook about the idea of a joint government between Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, driven by their shared love of Star Wars, with one adviser stressing that “The Tories really need to heal ” and become more disciplined after years of separation. However, the indications so far are that Javid wants to make the most of his current growing stock and go it alone. On this topic, POLITICO’s Cristina Gallardo has put together a handy guide to the Tory power players who are running.
Ben Wallace: Early favourite. The 52-year-old defense secretary has built a reputation for a strong and statesmanlike response to the war in Ukraine, as well as an emotional defense of Afghans who helped British troops in Afghanistan during the country’s evacuation last year. He is unusual among senior Tories in that he did not go to university, instead attending a military school and joining the Scots Guards. His job as defense secretary came as a reward for running Johnson’s 2019 Conservative leadership campaign.
Sajid Javid: The first cabinet minister to jump ship on Tuesday, Javid seems to have read the mood of the party perfectly. His decision to quit as health secretary sparked a wave of resignations that eventually ousted Johnson. The son of Pakistani immigrants, Javid attended public school and worked in finance before entering politics. Javid has led six government departments under the last three Tory prime ministers, but the most common criticism leveled at him is that he has not been in cabinet long enough to make an impact.
Rishi Sunak: The former chancellor, who resigned nine minutes after Javid on Tuesday, has bounced back from his wife’s tax scandal and is now a serious potential leader contender again. His youth – he is 42 – is seen as both a plus and a minus. He has already held the second-highest government post, where he has tried to keep public spending and taxes low despite continued pressure from Johnson to splash cash after the pandemic. But “Dishi Rishi” – as he is called because of his exquisite personal brand – may have to convince fellow Tories that he has enough political acumen.
Liz Truss: The foreign secretary is a favorite among ordinary Tories but will have to work hard to win the support of the parliamentary party. Truss supported remaining in the EU in the referendum and has been trying to prove his Eurosceptic credentials ever since. Truss began preparing for a leadership bid months ago with an aggressive social media campaign and rapprochement with Brexit hardliners in the Tory Party, to whom she showed her Northern Ireland Protocol bill before introducing it to parliament. The daughter of left-wing parents, Truss came from the libertarian wing of the Conservatives and tried to shape herself in the image of Thatcher.
Nadhim Zahawi: It’s been a quick rise to the top for the shrewd businessman who became a minister for the first time in 2018. You’ll know the story by now: born in Iraq, moved to the UK as a refugee in the 1970s, built YouGov from scratch. Emilio’s POLITICO profile had more tidbits – including Zahawi winning £10,000 betting on Will Young winning Pop Idol. It is hard to find anyone who would dispute his success as vaccine minister. But it is considerably easier to find detractors confused by the 24 hours he managed to keep Johnson afloat by storming into the Treasury before joining a delegation of ministers calling on the prime minister to quit next day. Will Zahawi manage to secure tax cuts as an audition for the top job?
Penny Mordaunt: In her early career, one of Mordaunt’s main claims to fame was the time she donned a swimsuit for a reality TV diving show. The Minister of Trade and former Minister of Defense is liked by the Red Wall MPs because of…
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