London, October 24 (BNA): Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s next prime minister after winning the race to lead the Conservative Party, leaving him the task of leading a deeply divided country through an economic recession set to leave millions of people poorer. .
Sunak, one of Westminster’s richest politicians who is set to be the country’s first color leader, will be asked to form a government by King Charles, to replace Liz Truss, the outgoing leader who only lasted 44 days in office before her resignation, Reuters reported.
Centrist politician Benny Mordaunt, who failed to garner enough support from lawmakers to enter the ballot, was defeated, while his rival, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, withdrew from the competition saying he could no longer unite the party.
“This historic decision shows once again the diversity and talent of our party,” Mordaunt said in a statement after withdrawing from the race just minutes before the winner was scheduled to be announced. “Rishi has my full support.”
Sterling and UK government bond prices jumped briefly following the news of Mordaunt’s withdrawal, but soon returned to their previous levels. According to an ITV correspondent, the king was returning to London and could accept Truss’ resignation either later on Monday or Tuesday.
Sunak, the 42-year-old former finance minister, became Britain’s third prime minister in less than two months, tasked with restoring stability to a country wracked by years of political and economic turmoil.
The millionaire former hedge fund chief is expected to start making deep spending cuts to try to rebuild Britain’s financial reputation, as the country slides into recession, due to the rising cost of energy and food.
He will also inherit a political party that has been torn apart along ideological lines, a challenge that has damaged the fortunes of many former Conservative leaders.
Britain has been in a state of perpetual crisis since it voted in 2016 to leave the European Union, unleashing a battle in Westminster over the country’s future that remains unresolved today.
Johnson, who directed the Brexit vote, led his party to a landslide victory in 2019, only to be ousted from office less than three years later after a series of scandals. His successor, Truss, lasted for just over six weeks before she resigned over an economic policy that destroyed the country’s economic credibility.
Economists wondered if Sunak could handle the country’s finances while bringing the party’s multiple warring factions together.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt – the fourth person to hold the position in four months – is due to present a budget on October 31 to plug a public finance black hole expected to swell to £40 billion.
Sunak garnered national attention when, at 39, he became Johnson’s finance minister just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Britain, where he developed the successful vacation scheme.
The former Goldman Sachs analyst will be the UK’s first Indian-born prime minister.
His family immigrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many former British colonies moved into the country to help rebuild after World War II.
After graduating from Oxford, he went to Stanford University where he met his wife, Akshata Murthy, and her father, Indian billionaire NR Narayana Murthy, founder of the outsourcing giant Infosys.
M