Reuters
NOS News••modified
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak becomes the new leader of the British Conservative Party. He automatically succeeds Liz Truss as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His only rival, Penny Mordaunt, dropped out of the leadership race at the last minute, British media report. Mordaunt immediately expressed her support for Sonak.
In the first reaction, the Conservative Party chairman said it was time to unite and all members stand behind Sunak. “The time for internal discussions is over. Under Rishi Sunak’s leadership, I am confident we can address the problems of the British people.”
Sunak, 42, who was born in Southampton (his parents are of Indian descent) is the first British prime minister to follow Hinduism. He is also the first Prime Minister of Colour. King Charles is expected to appoint him prime minister tomorrow.
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To be allowed to run for the party leadership, a candidate must have the support of at least 100 party members in the House of Commons before 3pm NST. According to the BBC, Sunak has won at least 193 Conservative MPs behind him.
His only challenger, the Tory leader in the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, faced fewer than 30 statements of support. So I dropped out of the race just before 3pm.
Yesterday, former Prime Minister Johnson withdrew from the party leadership battle, even before he officially announced his candidacy. This has already made clear that the path is open for Sunak to become Prime Minister.
Sunak previously served as Finance Minister in the Johnson administration. His exit from government last summer heralded the downfall of the prime minister after a series of scandals. Many party members still blame Sunak for this.
After Johnson’s resignation, Sunak actually tried to become party leader, but then lost to Liz Truss. When she announced her departure on Thursday after weeks of political and financial crisis, Sunak was running for re-election.
The news site Politico reports on the most astonishing political comeback in recent history. The loser of September becomes the Prime Minister of Octoberthe BBC sums up his return.