LAST WEEK IN BiH: Tugendhat among candidates for possible Johnson successor

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - British Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat is one of the first candidates mentioned as a possible successor to Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of Great Britain, should a vote of no confidence be passed against the current prime minister.

The Guardian writes today that Tugendhat has become the first to say he would be ready to take the prime ministerial seat.

The MP for Tonbridge and Malling and Chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said it would be a "huge privilege" to be prime minister, a job he once described as winning the lottery.

The former soldier (48), who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that anyone who could gain the support of a group of colleagues should "step up" and that it is "up to everyone to declare themselves."

The likelihood that Boris Johnson will face an imminent confidence vote over Downing Street lockdown rule breaches has sparked speculation about possible candidates to succeed him.

Tugendhat, a Tory centrist with no ministerial experience, is considered an outsider in the race to succeed Johnson, but his name is increasingly appearing as a viable option. One former cabinet minister said: "Tom would be my first choice."

Tugendhat told Times Radio: "I think I'm making it pretty clear that it is up to all of us to step forward. And it is up to the electorate – in the first instance to parliamentary colleagues, and in the second instance to the party – to choose."

He said he had not sought support, but "of course one should try."