Last Sunday, Boris Johnson refused to participate in a televised debate with five other contenders vying to become Britain’s next prime minister, prompting criticism from rival candidates. Participants of the debate on Channel 4’s broadcast faced questions regarding their solution to the stalled Brexit process.

“Where is Boris?” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt questioned during the debate, as an empty lectern on the debate stage drew attention to the lack of Johnson’s presence. “If he can’t join this team with five colleagues, how is he going to fare with 27 European countries? He should be here to answer that question.”

Theresa May stepped down as party leader earlier this month after her failure to secure Parliament’s backing on her Brexit plan. In her absence, the Conservative Party will elect a new leader to head the Brexit deal. Johnson, a former London mayor and foreign secretary, won 114 of the 313 votes last week in the first round of voting by Tory lawmakers, making him a front-runner in the race to become the United Kingdom’s next prime minister.

“This is a two-horse race and we know one of the horses: Boris,” said International Development Secretary Rory Stewart at a political journalist campaign event. “There is literally only one question you have to answer – who is likely to beat Boris?”

During the Sunday debate, the other five candidates jostled for the coveted second slot on the ballot. “I believe I’m the candidate most trusted to get us out (of the EU) by the end of October,” former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab claimed according to BBC. Hunt also asserted his trustworthiness, stating that the Conservatives must choose “a prime minister that families up and down the country trust with their future.”

The United Kingdom was scheduled to leave the EU on 29 March 2019, but political gridlock has delayed Brexit to 31 October 2019. During Sunday’s debate, the candidates discussed their proposals for the leave, ranging from re-negotiations with the EU to a no-deal Brexit. “I can get the European Union to change their approach,” declared Environment Secretary Michael Gove regarding his plan to re-negotiate the divorce deal with the EU, according to Al Jazeera. Rory Stewart, the International Development Secretary, said that a no-deal Brexit would be “deeply damaging.” Yet Raab argued that more delays would cripple the economy further and did not dismiss suspending Parliament to force an exit. Other candidates strongly opposed the idea. Home Secretary Sajid Javid likened the proposed action as one of a dictator, while Gove called it a “terrible thing.”

Although Johnson has garnered admiration from many Conservatives for his charisma and personality, Johnson’s opponents point to his political record fraught with blunders and his use of offensive language as reasons to back another candidate. These criticisms can reflect the possible problems that the U.K. may face with Johnson as prime minister. His absence from the stage on Sunday was also worrying, given that his answers to questions regarding his Brexit plan have been unclear.

Johnson’s evasion of media scrutiny has frustrated his opponents, who were hoping to grill the front-runner before the second round of voting later that week. However, as candidates within the Conservative party, the attempts to criticize one another in debates and other media appearances could cause greater divides within the country. In a series of votes on Tuesday, lawmakers in the House of Commons narrowed the field of candidates down to Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt. A postal vote will take place for around 160,000 Conservative members across the nation, and the winner will be announced in late July. The final results in July will be crucial in deciding how Britain will end up exiting the EU.

According to Al Jazeera, Johnson did, however, agree to partake in a BBC debate taking place after the candidates were narrowed down. Regardless of who eventually is voted in as the new prime minister, how the two remaining candidates use their remaining time before the final vote could change public opinion and ultimately impact the future of Brexit. As the country has already experienced significant turbulence so far, the best Brexit outcome for both the United Kingdom and EU member states would be one that is as least disruptive to daily life as possible.