LONDON: British Conservative Rishi Sunak was on Monday (Oct 24) poised to become prime minister and the country’s first leader of colour, after the dramatic decision by Boris Johnson to abandon a political comeback bid.
Just weeks after he lost out to Liz Truss to lead the ruling Tories, Sunak could pull off a stunning reversal in fortunes by winning the leadership as early as Monday afternoon, following ex-prime minister Johnson’s unexpected exit late Sunday.
It would make him Britain’s third prime minister in less than two months, tasked with restoring stability to a country reeling from years of political and economic turmoil.
The multi-millionaire former hedge fund boss would be expected to launch deep spending cuts to try to rebuild Britain’s fiscal reputation, just as the country slides into a recession, dragged down by the surging cost of energy and food.
The leadership contest, triggered by Truss’ resignation on Thursday, requires candidates to secure the support of at least 100 Conservative Members of Parliament by 2pm local time (9pm Singapore time) on Monday.
Sunak had crossed that threshold by Friday night, ahead of declaring his candidacy on Sunday and amassing nearly 200 public nominations from Tory lawmakers.
Johnson’s withdrawal from the race – before he had even formally announced his candidacy – left cabinet member Penny Mordaunt as the only other declared contender.
But Sunak supporters were quick Monday to stress that the former finance minister was not assuming he had the leadership “in the bag”.
“He’s speaking to colleagues this morning, he’s working very hard to attract those supporters who were perhaps with Boris Johnson previously,” said interior minister Grant Shapps.
Mordaunt, leader of parliament’s House of Commons, has received the backing of around 90 politicians, according to a source in her team.
If the 49-year-old resists and is able to garner 100 nominations, the race will be decided by the party’s roughly 170,000 members in an online vote, with the result announced on Friday.
Should she fail to reach the threshold, Sunak would become prime minister.
Just two months ago, the members selected Truss over Sunak, who had more support among MPs. Mordaunt is popular with the grassroots and supported Truss.
Britain’s borrowing costs eased on Monday after Johnson pulled out of the race. However, economists have questioned whether he can tackle the country’s finances while holding the party’s multiple warring factions together.
Finance minister Jeremy Hunt – the fourth in four months – is due to present a budget on Oct 31 to plug a black hole in the public finances that is expected to have ballooned to up to £40 billion.
Guy Hands, a private equity boss, said Britain’s dominant political party was no longer fit to run the country.
“It’s got to move on from fighting its own internal wars,” he told BBC Radio, urging the Conservatives to admit that they had put the country on a “path to be the sick man of Europe” and that millions of people were now poorer.
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