British Secretary of State for Trade Penny Mordaunt enters race to succeed Boris Johnson

The Secretary of State for Trade of the United Kingdom, Penny Mordaunt, has announced this Sunday her candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party and, by extension, for the succession of Boris Johnson as hypothetical Prime Minister of the country, thus becoming the ninth aspirant in the race for the head of Government.

“Our leadership has to change. It has to focus a little less on the leader and a lot more on the ship,” Mordaunt announced via a video posted on her Twitter account. “I’m Penny Mordaunt and I’m ready to serve as the next leader of the Conservative Party,” she has sentenced in front of the musical background of the traditional British anthem ‘Jerusalem’.

In the video, Mordaunt pledges to defend “British values such as “freedom, justice, courage and compassion” that “must be defended now more than ever.”

Mordaunt, 43, is an ardent supporter of Brexit and was one of the leading faces of the Vote Leave campaign in favor of the country’s exit from the European Union. She is also seen as a rejuvenating cog between the more traditional sector of the Conservative party and its new, relatively more open-minded generations, as she demonstrated in her support for the transsexual community during her time as head of Equality.

“We must think of those who came before us, and we must think of the generations to come,” she said in her video presentation.

The Secretary of State announced her candidacy hours after former Health Ministers Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt, Treasury Minister Nadhim Zahawi and Transport Minister Grant Shapps.

Also declaring their intention to succeed Johnson have been Attorney General Suella Braverman, former Treasury Minister Rishi Sunak, former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch and House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat.

Foreign Affairs Minister Liz Truss’s entourage have assured that she will also contest the race, according to ‘The Mail on Sunday’ newspaper.

On the other hand, one of the favorites, the Minister of Defense, Ben Wallace, has confirmed this Saturday that he will not run. “After careful consideration and discussions with colleagues and family, I have taken the decision not to enter the Conservative Party leadership contest,” Wallace said in a message posted on his Twitter account.