Rishi Sunak, 42, will succeed Liz Truss as UK Prime Minister after Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the Conservative Party leadership race. Sunak becomes the youngest British head of government in decades.
Sunak’s lone opponent decided to give up in a turnaround that happened just minutes from the nomination confirmation deadline, which required the support of at least 100 of the Conservative Party’s 357 deputies.
Mordaunt thus paved the way for Rishi Sunak to succeed Truss as the new tenant of 10 Downing Street.
The leader of the House of Commons said in a statement it was “clear” there was a need for “certainties” today, referring to the overwhelming support of the Conservative Party parliamentary faction that forced it to withdraw from the race.
Penny Mordaunt said Sunak now has her “full support” and that the time must be for “unity” and “working for the good of the nation”.
“Now we have elected our next Prime Minister. This decision is historic and shows once again the diversity and talent of our party,” said Mourdaunt, adding that there is now “a lot of work to be done”.
— Penny Mordaunt (@PennyMordaunt) October 24, 2022
Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee – the parliamentary group responsible for organizing the elections – made a statement confirming that a valid nomination had been submitted and that “Rishi Sunak has therefore been elected as leader of the Conservative Side.”
On Sunday, it will be recalled, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson withdrew from his candidacy for Conservative Party leadership, opening the door of Downing Street to Sunak, his former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Earlier, Rishi Sunak had officially launched the candidacy and was clearly the favourite, with nearly 150 recommendations. “The UK is a great country, but we are facing a deep economic crisis (…) I want to restore our economy, unite our party and save our country.”Sunak wrote on Twitter.
The UK is a great country, but we are facing a deep economic crisis.
That’s why I stand as leader of the Conservative Party and your next prime minister.
I want to restore our economy, unite our party and take care of our country. pic.twitter.com/BppG9CytAK
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 23, 2022
The former head of the financial portfolio would then become the UK’s new prime minister and the first non-white in British history, thanks to overwhelming support from the Conservative Party parliamentary group, which gave up the only opponent.
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister at the second attempt
A descendant of Indians and a practicing Hindu, former British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will be killed in the second attempt. the UK’s first non-white head of government and the youngest in decades. He is expected to be appointed British Prime Minister within hours.
The rise to the post less than two months after he was defeated by Liz Truss in the Conservative Party leadership election is equally surprising and ironic.
The outgoing prime minister resigned on Thursday after trying to implement an economic program that Sunak warned would be “irresponsible” because it would increase national debt, worsen inflation and worsen interest rates, which happened.
The former finance minister is now facing a severe economic and financial crisis, with the country on the brink of recession and pressured to cut government spending.
At the same time, it is meeting opposition from more and more civil servants, such as teachers and nurses, who are demanding wage increases, and from the Labor Party, which has a lead of some 30 percentage points in polls.
Rishi Sunak is singled out for his privileged education at the exclusive private school in Winchester and his personal wealth to criticize him as someone “disconnected” from the everyday problems of ordinary citizens.
Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty, daughter of an Indian tycoon, co-founder of the multinational Infosys, entered this year’s 222nd place on the Sunday Times newspaper’s list of the richest, with an estimated fortune of 730 million pounds (840 million pounds). euros at the current exchange rate).
But the former financial analyst has appealed to the humble beginnings of his immigrant grandparents, who arrived in Britain in the 1960s, and his parents, a doctor and pharmacist who worked to give their children a good education and opportunity.
Brits should judge him “by his personality and actions, not his bank account,” he argued several times during the summer campaign.
Born on May 12, 1980 in the English city of Southampton, Rishi Sunak is the eldest of three siblings. After graduating in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford, he completed his studies with an MBA at Stanford University in the US, where he met his wife.
The couple have two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, who are 11 and 9 years old respectively.
Meteoric Rise for Active Engagement in the Brexit Campaign
After working for investment bank Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions, Sunak entered politics and distinguished himself as a staunch supporter of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.
In 2015, he was elected MP for the Richmond constituency in the county of Yorkshire, in the north of England, a mainly rural and traditionally conservative region previously represented by ‘Tory’ leader William Hague.
Since then, he has made rapid strides thanks to his active involvement in the 2016 Brexit campaign, including representing Boris Johnson in several televised debates in the 2019 parliamentary election.
Rishi Sunak, appointed finance minister in 2019, was promoted to finance minister a year later after the unexpected resignation of Sajid Javid, and has since become a potential successor to Boris Johnson.
Sunak has been praised for quickly introducing billions of pounds in support programs to keep jobs and businesses through an 18-month lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But he fell out of favor with militants, particularly because of his increased contribution to Social Security to fund heavy health and welfare spending, and for having played an influential role in Boris Johnson’s abrupt demise.
In his July 5 resignation letter, Sunak claimed the principles of good conduct are “important” and distanced himself from the then prime minister’s lack of “seriousness and competence”.
In both the election he lost to Liz Truss and the election that ended today, he was the candidate with the most votes among Conservative MPs.
But even after the economic turmoil of recent months has shown him to be right in his cautious approach to the economy, Sunak continues to divide opinion, with many of the activists accusing him of “treason” and “putting in the bills” of the popular Boris Johnson.
with Lusa
Under update
Source: DN
