Rishi Sunak To Become First British Asian PM 

Rishi Sunak will be the first British Asian prime minister after his lone surviving challenger dropped out of the Conservative leadership race.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Prior to the nomination deadline on Monday, around 200 Conservative MPs declared their support for the former chancellor.

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt withdrew after failing to win over enough lawmakers.

The youngest prime minister in more than 200 years will be Mr. Sunak, who will follow Liz Truss.

Once the outcome of the Tory leadership election is announced, the new prime minister is anticipated to take office soon.

Following the announcement of the outcome by Sir Graham Brady, the head of the 1922 committee of backbencher Conservatives, Mr. Sunak addressed Conservative MPs.

According to MP Simon Hoare, Mr. Sunak warned them at the address given behind closed doors that this would be a difficult time and that there were no simple solutions.

Mr. Sunak, who will succeed Ms. Truss after her resignation last week barely 45 days into her turbulent premiership, will be chosen by the King.

After falling short to Ms. Truss in the most recent leadership election during the summer, Mr. Sunak has made a quick political return, which is effectively capped by his coronation as the Tories’ leader.

Ms. Truss tweeted to congratulate him and to offer her “full support” for his tax-cutting strategy, which Mr. Sunak had referred to as “fairytale economics.”

Ms. Mordaunt announced her withdrawal from the most recent competition minutes before the results were made public, acknowledging that “clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today”.

“This decision is a historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party,” Ms. Mordaunt wrote in a tweet. “Rishi has my full support.

Jake Berry, the chairman of the Conservative Party, declared that after a protracted period of extreme political unrest under Ms. Truss’s administration, it was time for the party to “unite four-square behind Rishi.”

Insisting on a general election, opposition parties claim Mr. Sunak lacks a democratic mandate to serve as prime minister.

After Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Ms. Truss, Mr. Sunak will become the fourth prime minister in a row to assume office without calling a general election.

The Conservatives gained a huge majority in the most recent general election in 2019, therefore the next one isn’t scheduled to happen until at least 2024.

Under the legislative political structure of the UK, Mr. Sunak is not required to call an early election.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr. Sunak had been crowned prime minister “without him saying a single word about how he would run the country and without anyone having the chance to vote”.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said Tory MPs had “installed another out-of-touch prime minister with no plan to repair the damage and without giving the British people a say”.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Mr. Sunak should call an early general election and must not “unleash another round of austerity”.