Rishi Sunak to become British Prime Minister after his rivals withdraw

Rishi Sunak He will become British prime minister on Monday after other candidates dropped out of the race to lead the Conservative Party, leaving him to lead a deeply divided country through an economic downturn that will leave millions of people poorer.

Sunak, one of the richest politicians in Westminster, will be in charge of forming a government to replace Liz Trusswho only lasted 44 days in office.

To gain the post, he defeated the centrist Penny Mordaunt, who did not get enough support from lawmakers to enter the vote, while his great rival, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, withdrew from the race saying he could no longer unite. to the match.

This decision is historic and demonstrates, once again, the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support,” Mordaunt said in a statement as he pulled out of the race minutes before the winner was announced.

Sterling and UK government bond prices spiked briefly on news of Mordaunt’s withdrawal, but soon returned to previous levels.

Altar, 42-year-old former Minister of Economywill become 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 billionaire former hedge fund chief is expected to launch deep spending cuts to try to rebuild Britain’s fiscal reputation, just as the country heads for a recessiondragged down by the rising cost of energy and food.

Britain has been in a state of “permacrisis” since it voted in 2016 to leave the European Union, sparking a battle in Westminster over the country’s future that remains unresolved to this day. The latest outbreak of drama caused consternation in foreign capitals and ridicule in the world press.

Sunak came to the fore nationally when, at 39, he became Johnson’s finance minister just as the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the country, developing a successful permit plan.

The former Goldman Sachs analyst will be the first British Prime Minister of Indian origin. Her family emigrated to the UK in the 1960s, a period when many people from former British colonies moved to the country to help rebuild it after World War II.

After graduating from Oxford University, he went to Stanford, where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire NR Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd.