UK Leadership: Who will replace Liz Truss? Rishi Sunak or Penny Morduant

It was revealed on Friday that rebels within the ruling Tory Party in the UK are allegedly plotting to unseat Truss as party leader and prime minister in favour of a so-called “unity” joint ticket team that includes Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.

As per YouGov poll reports, 62% of voters who participated in the last election and chose Liz Truss as British Prime Minister believe that they made the wrong decision, while only 16% believe that they chose the right candidate. 

Panicked Conservative lawmakers are now considering alternatives in the 42-year-old British Indian former Chancellor Sunak, who was the front-runner with his colleagues, and in third-place finisher Penny Mordaunt, who received the most votes within the parliamentary party.

The government is still feeling the effects of the contentious mini-budget from the end of last month, and UK Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng returned from an IMF meeting in Washington one day earlier than expected.

On Friday, Truss sacked Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng and appointed Jeremy Hunt to manage the finance portfolio of the country.

The new chancellor faces a huge challenge to calm markets. While Truss said canceling her plan to freeze corporation tax will raise £18 billion ($20 billion) a year, Bloomberg Economics estimates about £24 billion more savings or revenue raising is needed to put debt back on a sustainable track.

While more U-turns on the tax-cutting plans are anticipated as a result of crucial meetings at 10 Downing Street, the Tory backbenchers are reportedly considering the possibility of yet another leadership change.

The party thinks a deal between Sunak, who fell short of Truss in the party membership vote by a margin of 57 to 43%, and Mordaunt, who finished third in the initial round of MP voting before endorsing Truss, is possible. 

However, supporters of former British prime minister Boris Johnson have denounced such plotting as anti-democratic by irate Sunak supporters.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has also called embattled British PM Liz Truss’ abandoned tax cut plan a ‘mistake.’ He further added that other nations’ fiscal policies may hurt the US amid “worldwide inflation.”

Biden said it was “predictable” that the new prime minister on Friday was forced to walk back plans to aggressively cut taxes without identifying cost savings, after Truss’ proposal caused turmoil in global financial markets.