Former United Kingdom finance minister Rishi Sunak, 42, is set to become prime minister on Monday after his top rival for the conservative party contest stepped down.
The former banker gained the support of at least 100 Conservative members of parliament, the minimum needed to secure a spot in the internal party contest triggered after former Prime Minister Liz Truss stepped down following just 44 days in office, The Associated Press reported. Sunak will become Britain’s fifth prime minister in six years as the U.K. reels from months of economic and political chaos.
Penny Mordaunt, a member of parliament who led in the Conservative party election to replace former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had just 30 parliamentarians supporting her as of Sunday evening, according to the AP. Mordaunt had until 2 p.m. local time Monday to secure support from at least 100 lawmakers but pulled out at the last minute, according to the BBC. (RELATED: British Pound Hits Lowest Level Against US Dollar In 37 Years)
“This decision is an historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support,” Mordaunt said in a withdrawal statement.
Johnson himself had thrown in his bid to replace Truss, but withdrew Sunday when he failed to secure enough Tory support.
Truss won the Conservative Party’s vote after her predecessor, Boris Johnson, likewise resigned following several defections from within his own party. Truss’s own record includes the resignations of two ministers and a tax plan that sent markets tanking as the country struggles with a 40-year high in cost of living, according to the BBC.
Sunak, a former analyst at Goldman Sachs and multimillionaire, is expected to rein in the U.K.’s plummeting economy with harsh spending cuts and undo some of the damage inflicted by his predecessor, Reuters reported.
Analysts described Sunak, who was pro-Brexit, as fiscally responsible and a pragmatic, if a bit disorganized, leader, according to Bloomberg.
As prime minister, he will make history by becoming the U.K.’s first non-white leader, first Hindu and the youngest leader in 200 years, the AP reported.
The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis.
That’s why I am standing to be Leader of the Conservative Party and your next Prime Minister.
I want to fix our economy, unite our Party and deliver for our country. pic.twitter.com/BppG9CytAK
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 23, 2022
Sunak resigned from his position as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the flurry of resignations leading to Johnson’s abdication, claiming Johnson’s approach to policy was “fundamentally too different” from his own. He then competed to replace Johnson but lost out to Truss.
Sunak previously scarred his public profile after allegations emerged that his wife claimed special status to evade millions of pounds in taxes, and Sunak himself held a U.S. green card after he became chancellor of the Exchequer, according to The NYT.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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