Rishi Sunak, a former UK finance minister, declared his intention to succeed Liz Truss as future Conservative Party leader and UK prime minister early Sunday. As night fell, her triumph seemed imminent, though not yet certain. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had been his fiercest opponent all day, said he would not be running for the job he was fired from in July.
Johnson had tried in vain to get enough support from Conservative members of parliament, but he never publicly declared his campaign. House of Commons leader Penny Mourdant ran for the leadership seat on Sunday, but fell short of Rishi Sunak and Johnson, despite having some of Johnson's supporters.
Frantic competition for leadership is an unexpected sport in Britain. If there are no significant developments, Rishi Sunak could be elected on Monday afternoon.
Who is Rishi Sunak? What to know about the UK Prime Minister's favorite.
Rishi Sunak would become the prime minister of black or South Asia if he were to prevail. He was born in Southampton, England, the son of East African immigrants of Indian descent.
Sunak, 42, applied for the job twice in less than four months. The former Chancellor of the Exchequer advanced to the final round of the race to replace Johnson before Truss won the party members vote.
Rishi Sunak was relatively unknown before he was named Johnson's finance minister in 2020, but has since earned a reputation for paying close attention to fine print and using a hands-on approach to managing the nation's finances. Sunak built this reputation by leading the nation through the economic chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
At the helm of the British government, he and Johnson formed a conflicting couple: Sunak acted as the logical accountant while the prime minister played on the public's sense of humor. According to publicly available counts, Sunak has become the first and, at the time of writing, the only officially announced contender to have collected the 100 nominations requested by his fellow parliamentarians by Monday at 2pm. be on the party ticket.
If more than one candidate exceeds the limit, parliamentarians will choose two for the online vote of party members; the results are expected on October 28th. Until Sunday morning, Johnson, the former prime minister whose departure in July triggered the current period of political uncertainty in Britain, appeared to be Sunak's biggest rival.
Rishi Sunak said in a tweet containing his formal letter of resignation as finance minister from Johnson that the public deserved a government that was conducted "in a fair, competent and serious manner".
Sunak's resignation triggered a wave of other resignations that ultimately forced Johnson to step down. According to British media, the two men, who had previously worked side by side, would have had late night talks on Saturday, sparking anticipation that they would agree to Sunak's resignation.
Rishi Sunak has received support from several Conservative lawmakers and former friends of Johnson, including former cabinet ministers Sajid Javid and Gavin Williamson. Suella Braverman, a rising star of the party's right wing whose resignation as interior minister last week led to Truss's departure, expressed her support for the former finance minister, saying he offers stability amidst the situation. I need a leader who organizes our house and manages the helm with caution and firmness.
Rishi Sunak is such a guy, in my opinion, he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph. Johnson then appointed David Frost to the House of Lords, with Frost saying on Saturday it was time to "move on" from the former prime minister. Frost was in charge of negotiating the Brexit deal. Many of Sunak's supporters want to present him as a reassuring candidate capable of stopping the unrest of recent months.