Rishi Sunak to be new UK Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak to be new UK Prime Minister
Credit: Chris McAndrew/Wikimedia Commons.

Rishi Sunak will be the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after his remaining rival Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the race just before Monday's 14:00 cut-off point to secure the backing of 100 Conservative MPs.

Reports suggest that Mordaunt fell just 4 MP nominations short of the 100 required in order to contest the election among the Tory Party's members.

In a statement posted on social media, Mordaunt wrote: "Rishi has my full support... We all owe it to the country, to each other and to Rishi to unite and work together for the good of the nation."

Yesterday, Boris Johnson dropped out of the race to replace Liz Truss — a decision praised by Mordaunt, who wrote on Twitter that the former Prime Minister had "put country before party, and party before self".

Related News

Truss survived just 45 days in the role before resigning following a bungled “mini-budget” and growing pressure. She is now the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.

Sunak is known best for his role as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson during the Covid-19 pandemic. His financial support policies for households and businesses were widely popular, though came at a considerable cost to the government.

In the race to replace Johnson, Sunak voiced the need for fiscal prudence as the developed world lurches towards recession. Yet his financial caution was overshadowed by Truss' unfeasible claims that she could spur economic growth through deregulation and handing out un-budgeted tax breaks to corporations and the highest earners.

Truss' lack of financial sense not only cost her the job as Prime Minister but also pitched the UK into further economic peril that it is still reeling from.


Copyright © 2024 The Brussels Times. All Rights Reserved.