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Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss will battle to be Britain’s next prime minister

Two children of Thatcher vie to succeed Boris Johnson

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 17: (ONE MONTH FREE EDITORIAL USE; NO ARCHIVING) In this handout image provided by ITV, Conservative leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss during Britain's Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate at Riverside Studios on July 17, 2022 in London, England. At 7pm on Sunday 17th July Live on ITV, Julie Etchingham hosts an hour-long debate in London with the five Conservative Party leadership contenders, vying to become Britains Prime Minister. All five candidates have agreed to take part and over the course of the 60-minute programme, they will debate with each other in response to questions put by the host. Taking place on the eve of the next round of voting, Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat, and Kemi Badenoch will debate the issues dominating the campaign. Each candidate will have the opportunity to make a closing statement. ITV is the UKs biggest commercial broadcaster and the programme will give the audience the opportunity to get to know more about the candidates and help them decide who has the qualities to be our new Prime Minister. Britains Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate will also be streamed live on ITV Hub, as well as through ITV.com/news, ITV News YouTube channel, facebook and on Twitter. (Photo by Jonathan Hordle / ITV via Getty Images)

The conservative party has spent three decades seeking an heir to Margaret Thatcher. It now has two pretenders to choose from. On July 20th, after nearly a fortnight of often vicious campaigning, the field of would-be Conservative leaders was reduced to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. One resigned as chancellor, helping precipitate Boris Johnson’s fall; the other is his outwardly loyal foreign secretary, who made up ground among mps as other contenders dropped out.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Sunak v Truss”

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