Rishi Sunak was elected as the new leader of the Conservative Party on Monday, making it the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His opponent Penny Mordaunt did not get enough preferential votes from the group members and withdrew at the last minute. Sunak, who according to British media would be supported by more than two hundred Conservative members of the House of Commons, is automatically the new leader of the party. He has already been the winner in the polls in recent days.
Sunak, 42, the ex-Treasury Secretary under Boris Johnson, is the UK’s third prime minister in two months and the first British leader from an Indian background. He succeeds Liz Truss, who resigned last week, who succeeded Johnson as prime minister for only 44 days. “The UK is a great country, but we are facing a deep economic crisis,” Sunak said in a statement in which he announced his candidacy to lead the Conservatives and become prime minister. Sunak was the last remaining competition from Truss last September.
Last weekend it was questionable whether Johnson would try to run for office, but the former prime minister withdrew on Sunday evening. In his own words, he had the necessary hundred statements of support from House of Commons, but he remembered: “You can’t govern effectively if you don’t have a united party,” he said. House members feared a vote with Johnson because he is still popular among members. The parliamentary investigation into Johnson is still ongoing, because of his drinks during the coronalockdowns in the UK.