UK Conservatives jostle in crowded, testy leadership race

LONDON (AP) – Candidates to replace Boris Johnson as Britain’s prime minister are scattering tax-cutting promises to woo their Conservative Party electorate.

They are campaigning as party officials prepare to quickly narrow the crowded field of almost a dozen candidates.

Little-known junior minister Rehman Chishti became the 11th candidate to declare he wanted to succeed Johnson, who quit as party leader on Thursday after months of ethics scandals.

Other contenders include Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi and former health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt.

The new leader will be chosen in a two-stage election by the 358 Conservative lawmakers and then the whole Conservative membership.

The party is due to set out a schedule on Monday.