The former Chancellor of the Exchequer writes that he wants to get the UK out of the ‘great economic crisis’ it is now facing. “I want to restore the economy, unite our party and deliver for our country,” he writes. “I ask you to give me the opportunity to solve our problems. To lead our country and our party towards the next elections.’
Sunak (42) has received sufficient support from Conservation MPs in recent days, according to various British media, to run as a successor to Liz Truss who resigned Thursday. 129 party members would now support his candidacy, the limit is 100.
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
Boris Johnson is also expected to run for leadership of his party. The former prime minister would still be looking for support from MPs and would announce his candidacy later. Penny Mordaunt, leader of the Conservative faction in the House of Commons, has previously stood as a candidate. According to British media, she has not yet managed to gather sufficient support from Conservative MPs.
If Johnson actually participates, he appears to be Sunak’s main competitor. The two spoke to each other on Saturday evening. It is unclear what exactly. They may have been trying to avoid a split within the Conservative party if they both run for the premiership. Sunak is seen as the one who initiated the end of Johnson’s premiership. He resigned as finance minister, after which several ministers followed and Johnson’s position became untenable.
It is also highly questionable whether Johnson still has a chance of a return to 10 Downing Street after his recent resignation. But despite the series of scandals surrounding his premiership, he still enjoys a lot of support within the party, partly because he led the Conservatives to victory in 2019 elections. led.
Sunak already ran for the party leadership of the Conservatives last summer but eventually lost that battle to Liz Truss, who received more votes from party members. The former finance minister did better than expected and gathered a lot of support from conservative members of parliament. Truss’s leadership came to an end after 44 days last Thursday after her position became untenable.
The deadline for nominations is Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. If Sunak is still the only candidate with sufficient support at that point, he will automatically become party leader and thus Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.