events. whatever happens next, sri lanka s new leaders will inherit their worst economic crisis since their worst economic crisis since the country s independence, huge popular discontent and all the political challenges that will bring. caroline hawley, bbc news. two more cabinet ministers have confirmed they are entering the race to succeed borisjohnson as conservative leader. they are the chancellor, nadhim zahawi, and the transport secretary, grant shapps. and in the last hour, the former health secretaries sajid javid and jeremy hunt have also said they will run. but the defence secretary, ben wallace, who had been tipped by some as a strong potential candidate, has ruled himself out of the contest. our political correspondent jonathan blake reports. who is the best shot, so far? at the forefront of britain s response to the war in ukraine, ben wallace was seen as a strong contender for prime minister. the defence secretary is popular with conservative members but he s taken what
a remarkable display of people coming out peacefully to protest. we ve more on the crisis in sri lanka on our website, of course. articles include this piece on daily life in a country that s gone bankrupt. that s bbc.com/news or bbc.co.uk/news for all that. here in the uk, the race to succeed borisjohnson as conservative party leader and therefore prime minister is getting rather crowded. eight candidates are now standing, including serving cabinet ministers nadhim zahawi and grant shapps. former cabinet ministers jeremy hunt and sajid javid are in, too, and there could be even more to come as our political correspondent jonathan blake reports. who s the best shot, so far? at the forefront of britain s response to the war in ukraine, ben wallace was seen as a strong contender
political correspondent jonathan blake reports. who is the best shot, so far? at the forefront of britain s response to the war in ukraine, ben wallace was seen as a strong contender for prime minister. the defence secretary is popular with conservative members but he s taken what he said was a difficult decision and wished the candidates good luck. the frontrunner for now is rishi sunak. the former chancellor says he d gripped the moment and be honest about the challenges ahead. he has supporters and detractors. he s got the experience, he s got the ability, he s got the vision and i think at this moment in time we need to move to someone who s going to walk into numberten and take overthe reins of the country, they need that level of experience and ability. unfortunately, because rishi sunak s record is saying he wants low taxes and then putting them up, he s now got to double down on that record in his campaign. another grassroots tory favourite, the foreign
work is a lot at stake here, and a lot of work that is a lot at stake here, and a lot of work that needs to be done in the next work that needs to be done in the next few work that needs to be done in the next few days. here in the uk, the defence secretary, ben wallace, has ruled himself out of the conservative leadership contest. in a statement, he said it had not been an easy choice, but that he had decided to focus on his currentjob. six tory mps have entered the race so far with two cabinet ministers, nadhim zahawi and grant shapps, confirming their candidacies this afternoon as our political correspondent jonathan blake reports. who is the best shot, so far? at the forefront of britain s response to the war in ukraine, ben wallace was seen as a strong contender for prime minister. the defence secretary is popular with conservative members but he s taken what he said was a difficult decision and wished the candidates good luck. the frontrunner for now is rishi sunak. the
plus community over the last 50 years? get in touch with me on @annitabbc or using the hashtag bbc your questions. and, two british hopefuls, cameron norrie and heather watson, will both be in action today at wimbledon. the mp chris pincher has resigned as government deputy chief whip, after a newspaper alleged he groped two men at a private members club. he has apologised to the prime minister and said he had embarrassed himself and others. the role of the government whips is to enforce party discipline. our political correspondent jonathan blake reports.