Boris Johnson resigns: First leadership bids to become next prime minister

JULY 8: Tom Tugendhat is the latest MP to throw his hat into the ring, joining Attorney General Suella Braverman and Brexiteer Steve Baker who have shown interest. Mr Johnson plans to stay on as PM until a new successor is found by the autumn. However, many colleagues and opposition politicians want him to leave now - but he has already filled cabinet jobs. Mr Johnson resigned on Thursday, following two days of desperate attempts to cling onto power amid a flood of resignations. Nearly 60 Conservative MPs have quit government roles in recent days at both senior and junior levels, raising doubts about the government's ability to function. Speaking to his newly appointed cabinet on Thursday, Mr Johnson promised he would not use his remaining time in No 10 to make "major changes of direction". A timetable for the Tory leadership race is due to be confirmed next week and the new prime minister is expected to be in position by September. But unofficially, the contest is already under way. The chair of the foreign affairs committee Mr Tugendhat, launched his leadership bid by writing in the Daily Telegraph on Friday, promising tax cuts and "new energy and ideas" for government. "I have served before - in the military, and now in Parliament. Now I hope to answer the call once again as prime minister," said the former soldier, who has been a prominent critic of Mr Johnson. Attorney General Ms Braverman has already confirmed she will stand, while former Brexit minister Mr Baker said he was "seriously" considering running after being asked by people to do so. Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps - who both revolted against Mr Johnson - are also considering putting their hats into the ring, the BBC has been told. Others tipped to run include Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and ex-Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. More declarations are expected in the coming days - but some senior Tories have already said they will not be running, including former Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and former Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Brexit minister Jacob Rees-Mogg criticised Mr Sunak on Thursday, saying he was "not a successful chancellor" and "not alert to the inflationary problem". Speaking on Channel 4 News, the Johnson loyalist said the PM had been an "exceptionally good leader" who had been brought down by some "relatively minor missteps that got taken out of all proportion". Transport minister Robert Courts said Mr Shapps, who he works alongside, would be a "great choice" and also suggested Ben Wallace, the defence secretary. "I think we need someone who's got experience, someone who is able to campaign... someone who's able to deliver," he told BBC Newsnight. It may not surprise you to discover that Westminster is a postcode which doesn't suffer a deficit of ambition. The wannabes will fight a popularity contest among Tory MPs in the next few weeks, and should two of them be left at the end of that process, Conservative Party members will get the final say over the summer. Somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 people will be charged with selecting the next head of our government on our behalf. It is a safe bet the next prime minister will be a very different character to Boris Johnson. Given the manner and motivations behind his toppling, being seen to ooze integrity and revere truth are qualities all the candidates will aspire to illustrate. But beyond that there will be an intriguing debate about what it means to a Conservative in 2022. When a new leader assumes office, the political landscape will instantly shift. Meanwhile, Conservative backbench MP and former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell said: "We need a complete break from the Boris years." Asked about what he would want in a new leader, he said someone with domestic and international experience and "someone who is patently moral and decent". MP John Baron said he thought a new leader should focus on the cost of living crisis, levelling up and helping the most vulnerable in society. It is important that "integrity" is at the heart of the government, he told the BBC. Any candidate for the leadership race would need to secure the backing of Tory MPs, with the final two candidates then going to a ballot of Conservative members. Some Tories are deeply unhappy that Mr Johnson is not quitting as PM immediately, with the former Prime Minister Sir John Major saying it would be "unwise" for him to stay until a replacement is chosen. Conservative MP Justine Greening said it was time for Mr Johnson to go and while he remains in No 10 "it's harder for the party and the country to move on". But Lord Vaizey who formerly served as a minister for David Cameron, said it was "fine" for the PM to continue "to act as caretaker". Getting rid of a prime minister can lead to "dissatisfaction" with party members and voters who elected them, he told Newsnight. The Labour Party has also threatened to try and unseat the PM immediately through a vote of no confidence, although this would need considerable support among Conservatives to succeed. According to Downing Street, Mr Johnson told ministers at a cabinet meeting on Thursday that he would not seek to implement "major changes of direction" or take "major fiscal decisions" while a caretaker PM. The prime minister's resignation followed a revolt by ministers over his leadership, which was sparked by the way he handled sexual misconduct allegations against former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher. Initially he tried to replace ministers who had quit, until it became clear that he had lost the confidence of the Conservative Party. In his resignation speech outside No 10 on Thursday, Mr Johnson said he had tried to stay on to deliver on his "incredible mandate" from the 2019 election. He cited various achievements including Brexit and the Covid vaccine programme. He said his departure was a result of the "herd instinct" at Westminster and it would be "painful" to not deliver on "so many ideas and projects". Mr Johnson also spoke to President Zelensky of Ukraine, reassuring him that his replacement would remain as committed to the war-torn country as he was. With inputs from BBC

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Rishi Sunak leads PM race as Boris Johnson flies back to London

Oct 22: The ex-chancellor has 93 endorsements from Tory MPs so far, though a campaign source said he had already reached 100. Former leader Boris Johnson, second with 44 backers, is poised to enter the contest to succeed Liz Truss and is flying back from a Caribbean holiday. Penny Mordaunt was the first to declare, counting 21 supporters so far. Trade Minister Sir James Duddridge, who is backing Mr Johnson, told BBC News: "He is coming home and is up for it." Neither Mr Sunak nor Mr Johnson have officially launched their campaigns, but this has not stopped backers declaring their support. Mr Johnson is on a flight back from a holiday in the Dominican Republic, and is due to arrive in London on Saturday morning. A BBC reporter on the flight says some passengers who tried to take selfies were stopped from doing so by his sizeable security team. MPs will be waiting to see if he makes a statement when he lands. Sources from Mr Sunak's campaign told BBC News he had already reached the 100 nominations needed to make it onto the ballot paper. Mr Sunak secured support from a number of senior colleagues, including former chancellor and health secretary Sajid Javid, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and former health secretary Matt Hancock. "It is abundantly clear that Rishi Sunak has what it takes to match the challenges we face - he is the right person to lead our party and take the country forward," Mr Javid said. Another backer, Tobias Ellwood, said he was the 100th MP to endorse Mr Sunak, saying: "Time for centrist, stable, fiscally responsible government offering credible domestic & international leadership." Mr Johnson's supporters said the former prime minister had "momentum and support". Mr Duddridge said: "He is the only election winner we have that has a proven track record in London, on Brexit, and in gaining the mandate we have now." 'I'm up for it' Sir James also read out what he said was a message from Mr Johnson to the PA Media news agency that appeared to confirm his bid: "I'm flying back, Dudders. We are going to do this. I'm up for it." The former Tory party leader is said to have contacted MPs from his holiday, the i newspaper reported, promising colleagues that if elected he would "adopt a more inclusive style of governing and bring more discipline to the Downing Street operation". International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman are said to be considering backing Mr Johnson, in a move that could unify the Right of the Tory party, the Daily Telegraph reported. Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith told BBC Newsnight that Mr Johnson has not officially declared his campaign because "he's probably waiting to see whether he felt he'd got the support... I'd say he's certainly up for it". Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak backer Tory MP Craig Williams said he will likely respond to calls to run for leader "in the coming hours or days... there are clearly over a hundred colleagues publicly declaring parliamentary support." Declaring her run earlier, Ms Mordaunt, the current leader of the House of Commons, said she had been encouraged by colleagues to run for prime minister - and pledged to "unite our country, deliver our pledges and win the next [general election]". She later told the Daily Telegraph: "We owe it to the country to have a detailed plan of how we will deliver. It is not enough to tell people we understand their issues. Our success should be measured in whether people really feel that we can support them. "I will harness the talents of all sides of the Conservative Party, and all the talents of the country to deliver this." Penny Mordaunt backer Conservative MP Bob Seely said "I think we owe the country a collective responsibility to apologise" and said he believes Ms Mordaunt has the best chance of providing "unity and leadership" within the party. Among those to have ruled themselves out of the race are Defence Secretary Ben Wallace - who has indicated he is "leaning" towards supporting Mr Johnson - and current Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruled himself out of the race, along with Mr Tugendhat and former cabinet minister Michael Gove. Contenders have until 14:00 BST on Monday to find 100 backers. If three reach the threshold, Conservative MPs will knock out one contender in a ballot on the same day. MPs will hold an "indicative" ballot of the final two, with the winner then decided in an online vote of party members, to finish next Friday.

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Liz Truss: A quick guide to why the prime minister resigned

She was the shortest-serving UK prime minister Liz Truss replaced Boris Johnson as leader and became PM on 6 September then resigned 45 days later. The previous record was set at 119 days by George Canning who died in office in 1827. She ran into problems very quickly With her support, finance minster Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled £45bn of tax cuts in her third week, in what they called a "mini-budget". But it was widely blamed for causing huge economic problems. Despite Truss insisting at the time it was "the right thing to do", almost all of it has now been reversed - and Kwarteng was sacked as chancellor. Some of her own MPs started openly criticising her Dozens of Tories called on her to step down and her Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned. She had to hire former rivals Grant Shapps and Jeremy Hunt to plug the gaps in her top team. She said she couldn't deliver what she had promised In her resignation speech outside Downing Street, she said: "I recognise that I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party." She beat former Chancellor Rishi Sunak to be PM Only Conservative MPs and party members got to vote to make her leader. Sunak came ahead in the MPs vote but in the final vote from members more than 80,000 picked her instead of Sunak, making her the winner. We don't know who will replace her There will be a leadership contest within the next week. She will stay on as leader until her replacement is announced. She was the last PM appointed by Queen Elizabeth II The Queen appointed Liz Truss days before she died and her leadership began with a 10-day mourning period. She used to work as an economist After university she worked for Shell and Cable & Wireless, and married accountant Hugh O'Leary in 2000. They have two daughters. The family live in Thetford, Norfolk.

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8 contenders in race to succeed Johnson as UK PM

LONDON, July 13: Eight candidates have been nominated to enter the race to be the leader of the Conservative Party and replace outgoing Boris Johnson as prime minister of the United Kingdom (UK), the party's backbench 1922 Committee said on Tuesday. The eight contenders who successfully enlisted the required backing of at least 20 Conservative lawmakers are: Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak; Foreign Secretary Liz Truss; International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt; backbench lawmaker Tom Tugendhat; Attorney General Suella Braverman; newly appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi; former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch; and former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The first round of voting among Tory lawmakers will be held on Wednesday and only those contenders who receive at least 30 votes can enter the second ballot, which is to be held on Thursday, according to the rules set by the 1922 Committee, which runs the leadership contest. The number of contenders will be whittled down to two through more rounds of secret ballot, before British parliamentarians break up for the summer recess on July 21. The final two contenders will then go through a postal ballot of all the Conservative members, numbering around 200,000, over the summer and the winner will be announced on Sept.5, becoming the new Tory leader and the UK's next prime minister. The Tory leadership race was triggered after Johnson was forced to bow to the inevitable on Thursday by an avalanche of resignations of cabinet ministers and other junior government officials in protest against his scandal-plagued leadership. Johnson continues to serve as caretaker prime minister until a new Tory leader succeeds him. Johnson, who won a landslide victory in the general elections in 2019, lost support after he was caught in a string of scandals, including the Partygate scandal and the Chris Pincher scandal related to allegations of sexual misconduct by the former Conservative Party deputy chief whip.

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New British PM to be announced on Sept 5

The new prime minister of the United Kingdom (UK) replacing incumbent Boris Johnson will be announced on September 5

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After scandals, Boris Johnson quits as UK prime minister

LONDON, July 7: Scandal-ridden Boris Johnson announced on Thursday he would quit as British prime minister after he was abandoned by ministers and most of his Conservative lawmakers.

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Boris Johnson resigns: Five things that led to the PM's downfall

JULY 7: Now, the prime minister has lost the support of his MPs and is set to resign. How did it come to this? The Chris Pincher affair On Wednesday 29 June, the MP Chris Pincher - at the time, the Conservative deputy chief whip - went to a private members' club in London. In his words, he "drank far too much" and "embarrassed himself". He was accused of groping two men, which led to flurry of allegations, some dating back years. It set off a chain of events that ended with the prime minister's downfall. First, Downing Street said Mr Johnson was not aware of "specific allegations" about Mr Pincher before appointing him as deputy chief whip in February. Ministers later reiterated this line - even though it turned out to be inaccurate. On 4 July, the BBC reported Mr Johnson had been aware of a formal complaint. The next day, a former civil servant - Lord McDonald - said the prime minister had been told of the complaint in person. Mr Johnson then admitted he had been told in 2019, and apologised for appointing Mr Pincher as deputy chief whip. Partygate In April this year, the prime minister was fined for breaking lockdown rules, after attending a gathering on his birthday in June 2020. He also apologised for going to a "bring your own booze" party in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown. More widely, the Metropolitan Police issued 126 fines to 83 people for breaking lockdown rules in Downing Street and Whitehall. And a report by Sue Gray - a senior civil servant - described a series of social events by political staff that broke lockdown rules. "The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture," she wrote. Last December, Mr Johnson told the Commons that "all guidance was followed completely in No 10". He is now being investigated by a Commons committee over whether he knowingly misled Parliament. The cost of living crisis - and a tax rise Inflation has risen sharply in 2022, to the current rate of 9.1%. Many of the reasons were outside of Boris Johnson's control. Russia's invasion of Ukraine, for example, has led to rises in oil prices and the cost of food. And, while the government has taken some steps - for example, by cutting fuel duty by 5p per litre - it also went ahead with a tax rise in April. National Insurance went up by 1.25 pence in the pound. The government said the tax rise would pay for health and social care, and changes that kicked in this week softened the blow - but anyone earning more than £34,000 a year will still pay more. "In the middle of the worst cost of living crisis for decades," said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in April, "the government chooses to increase taxes on working people". Owen Paterson row In October 2021, a House of Commons committee recommended a 30-day suspension for then-Conservative MP Owen Paterson. The committee said he broke lobbying rules, to try to benefit companies who paid him. But the Conservatives - led by the prime minister - voted to pause his suspension, and set up a new committee to look at how investigations were carried out. After an outcry, Mr Paterson ended up resigning. Mr Johnson later admitted he had "crashed the car" in his handling of the case. Lack of focus - and ideas Boris Johnson won his thumping majority on the back of a clear, easy-to-follow policy - Get Brexit Done. But since then, his critics said, there was a lack of focus and ideas in Downing Street. His ex-adviser turned chief critic, Dominic Cummings, repeatedly accused him of being an out-of-control shopping trolley, veering from position to position. Others questioned the prime minister's philosophy - or, indeed, if he had one. In June, Conservative MP and former minister Jeremy Hunt accused Mr Johnson of lacking "integrity, competence, and vision". Mr Hunt was speaking before a confidence vote, which Mr Johnson won - but the complaints were getting louder. The by-election defeats kept coming. After the latest, Mr Johnson said he would not undergo a "psychological transformation". But that, now, is not the concern of Conservative MPs. They have spoken, and the prime minister is going.

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Boris Johnson to stand down as Tory leader after wave of resignations

JULY 7: Boris Johnson is to stand down as Conservative Party leader after losing the support of his ministers and MPs. A Conservative leadership contest will take place this summer and a new prime minister will be in place in time for the party conference in October. In the meantime, Mr Johnson will continue as prime minister. He had vowed to "keep going" following a wave of resignations from the government over his leadership but has now decided to step down. But was urged to stand down by senior members of his cabinet, including newly-appointed chancellor Nadhim Zahawi. In his resignation letter, Mr Zahawi, who was given the job less than 48 hours ago, said he had "made clear to the prime minister" that he should "leave with dignity". Mr Johnson is expected to give a resignation statement outside No 10 Downing Street later. With inputs from BBC

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Boris Johnson: Why Conservatives are urging PM to resign

JULY 7: Months of unremitting political turbulence spiked on Tuesday when the health secretary and chancellor quit within 10 minutes of each other over the PM's handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP). This triggered a trickle of resignations and letters of no confidence from junior ministers and MPs that on Wednesday became a flood. That evening, a group of senior ministers went to Downing Street to try to persuade the PM to resign. But so far Mr Johnson remains defiant and says he has no intention of resigning given his "colossal mandate" from voters at the last election. Cabinet ally Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the campaign against him as a "squall". Tory MP Andrew Mitchell told the BBC: "It's a bit like the death of Rasputin. He's been poisoned, stabbed, he's been shot, his body's been dumped in a freezing river and still he lives." So how did we get here? A drunken night out in Westminster Last Thursday Noa Hoffman, a 24-year-old just four days into her job as a political reporter for the Sun newspaper, broke the news that a Conservative MP had resigned from his role as a party whip following a boozy evening at the Carlton private members club. In his resignation letter, Chris Pincher told the PM he "drank far too much" and "embarrassed myself and other people". But the matter turned out to be far more serious: he is alleged to have grabbed two men at a private members' club, touching at least one of them on the groin. Two things then happened. The government briefed the media that Mr Pincher had recognised he had behaved badly and so would keep his job as an MP and face no further action. But behind the scenes Conservative MPs were furious. Similar allegations of sexual misconduct had been made against Mr Pincher in the past. Yet Mr Johnson had put him into a position of power as the party's deputy chief whip - enforcers who ensure MP discipline but who are also responsible for pastoral matters. How the official line changed The story then became about what Boris Johnson knew about Mr Pincher and when he knew it. For days ministers and Mr Johnson's spokesman insisted the prime minister was not aware of specific allegations against Mr Pincher when appointing him deputy chief whip. On Monday night that story collapsed when political correspondent Ione Wells revealed that Mr Johnson had in fact been made aware of a formal complaint about "inappropriate behaviour" by Mr Pincher when he was a Foreign Office minister from 2019-20. Tuesday saw a dramatic public intervention by the former top Foreign Office civil servant Sir Simon McDonald, who said Mr Johnson had been briefed in person about the complaint. Downing Street then told journalists that Mr Johnson had in fact known - but had "forgotten". On Tuesday Mr Johnson admitted it had been a "bad mistake" to appoint Mr Pincher. But the damage was done. Bombshell resignations The discontent erupted when Chancellor Rishi Sunak - responsible for the economy - and Health Secretary Sajid Javid quit. In his letter Mr Sunak said the public "rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously". In a subsequent statement to Parliament on Wednesday Mr Javid said - with Mr Johnson looking on - that the problem "starts at the top" and "that's not going to change". Tuesday afternoon saw Mr Johnson call the rest of his cabinet to find out who was staying and who was going - so far the rest of the cabinet has remained loyal. Will Johnson resign? Or call a general election? On Wednesday Mr Johnson appeared before MPs in the House of Commons determined to ride out the storm. Asked by a Conservative MP if there were any circumstances under which he would resign - he replied that he would "hang on in there". "Frankly, the job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when you have been handed a colossal mandate is to keep going and that's what I'm going to do," he said, referring to his landslide 2019 general election win. But the BBC's Chris Mason said you could feel, hear and smell the authority draining away from Boris Johnson and his exit from Parliament was greeted by opposition Labour MPs jeering "bye bye". Several cabinet ministers, including Home Secretary Priti Patel and Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, appointed on Tuesday to replace Mr Sunak, are among senior figures now telling Mr Johnson to step down. The prime minister could also face a second confidence vote as early as next week, after he was told by leading MPs that they would change Conservative party rules to allow it. Some have questioned whether Mr Johnson could seek to shore up his position by calling an early general election. However a YouGov poll on Tuesday showed that 69% of British people now thought that Mr Johnson should resign and more than half of Conservative voters also believed he should go. So a snap general election would also be fraught with risk. With inputs from BBC

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Boris Johnson wins vote but suffers large Tory rebellion

JUNE 7: The PM won 59% of the vote, meaning he is now immune from a Conservative leadership challenge for a year. In all, 211 Tory MPs voted they had confidence in the PM's leadership while 148 voted against him. Mr Johnson described his confidence vote win as "decisive". Striking an upbeat tone, he said it was a "very good", "convincing" result and "an opportunity to put behind us all the stuff that the media goes on about". The result sees the prime minister remain in office, but critics said the scale of the rebellion against him showed his authority had been weakened, with some calling on him to resign. The vote share in support of Mr Johnson was lower than the 63% received by former Prime Minister Theresa May when she won a party confidence vote in 2018, before resigning six months later over a Brexit deadlock. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said a "divided" Conservative Party was "propping up" Mr Johnson after he survived the confidence vote. And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said while Mr Johnson had clung on to power, "his reputation is in tatters and his authority is now totally shot". But Downing Street said the result "renews the PM's mandate" and allows the government to "focus relentlessly on the issues that concern our voters". Tory MP and Welsh Secretary Simon Hart told the BBC the prime minister "has lots to prove" but insisted the result "was pretty decisive". Mr Johnson, who became prime minister in 2019, was informed he would face a vote on his leadership on Sunday during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, after weeks of speculation over his future. The ballot was triggered by Conservative MPs after at least 15% of them wrote letters of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the party's backbench 1922 Committee. Discontent among Tory MPs has grown since a highly critical report into lockdown parties in and near Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic was published last month. The report laid bare the extent of Covid rule-breaking in Number 10, including at a birthday party Mr Johnson was fined by the police for attending in June 2020. The fine meant Mr Johnson became the UK's first serving prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law. Some Tory MPs have also expressed dissent over tax rises, the government's response to rising living costs and its policy direction.

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Boris Johnson and India's Narendra Modi to discuss defence and trade

APRIL 22: At a meeting in Delhi, the pair are also set to talk about a trade deal, ahead of a new negotiations next week. However, the prime minister is likely to face more questions about his leadership and lockdown parties in No 10. On Thursday, MPs gave the go ahead to an inquiry into whether he misled Parliament over the issue. The government had tried to delay the vote by MPs, but made a U-turn after opposition from within its own party. The PM now faces an investigation by the House of Commons Privileges Committee, which will launch once the Metropolitan Police has finished its own probe into the gatherings. Last week, Mr Johnson was fined for breaking Covid laws at an event in Downing Street. He had previously told MPs laws were not broken in No 10, leading to accusations from opposition parties that the prime minister had misled them. The meeting between Mr Johnson and Mr Modi in India's capital comes on the final day of Mr Johnson's two-day trip to the country, which has been much delayed by Covid. Mr Johnson will then give a press conference. Ahead of their meeting, Downing Street announced the UK planned to streamline its licencing rules for exporting military hardware to India. Mr Johnson said the UK would support India to construct fighter jets, in an attempt to reduce the volume of weapons bought from Russia. No 10 also said the two countries would be boosting their security co-operation in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Indian Ocean. And there was a commitment to increase research into lowering the cost of "green" hydrogen power - part of the UK's renewable energy plans. The two leaders will also discuss the latest in UK-India trade talks - where Mr Johnson has set an autumn target for an agreement to be signed. Ukraine stance However, conversations between the leaders on the invasion of Ukraine are likely to prove more difficult. Mr Johnson has pledged to raise the issue of India's relations with Russia during his trip. Along with other Western countries, the UK has been trying to persuade India to drop its neutral stance and join in condemning Moscow, which is its biggest arms supplier. Earlier this month, India condemned killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha - the strongest statement it has made since Russia's invasion. But it stopped short of blaming Russia for the violence, and has not criticised Russia directly since its invasion in February. Mr Johnson acknowledged on Thursday that India, which has strong ties to Russia, was "not in the same place" as the UK over the conflict. But he told reporters there was still a "huge amount we can work on together". Ahead of his meeting with Mr Modi, Mr Johnson said collaboration with India on issues including climate change and security was of "vital importance". He added: "The world faces growing threats from autocratic states which seek to undermine democracy, choke off free and fair trade and trample on sovereignty. "The UK's partnership with India is a beacon in these stormy seas."

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