Will he serve a longer term than his predecessor in Downing Street? Rishi Sunak has been nominated by the British Conservatives to become Prime Minister, four days after the resignation of Liz Truss. His only competitor in the race, Minister Penny Mordaunt, did not obtain the number of sponsorships on Monday.
“Rishi Sunak is elected leader of the Conservative Party,” announced Graham Brady, responsible for these issues within the ruling party for twelve years. Penny Mordaunt had just before admitted defeat, bringing on Twitter his “full support” for Rishi Sunak, a 42-year-old former finance minister who becomes the first non-white head of government in UK history.
Aged 42, this grandson of immigrants of Indian origin with the typical career of the British elite makes history by becoming the first non-white to lead the government of the United Kingdom. The victory of this deputy who was sworn in to Parliament on the Bhagavad Gita, a text considered one of the fundamental writings of Hinduism, comes at the height of the Hindu festival of diwali.
“I can confirm that we have only received one valid candidate”, declared the head of the organization of the poll, Graham Brady, “Rishi Sunak is thus elected leader of the Conservative Party”. The party being in the majority in the House of Commons, Rishi Sunak thus becomes Prime Minister, with the challenge of tackling a deep social crisis and trying to unify a majority that some consider unmanageable after 12 years in power. He is due to speak at 2:30 p.m. “I want to straighten out our economy, unite our party and act for our country,” he said on Sunday when announcing his candidacy. on Twitter during an intense weekend of negotiations. Wanting to mark his difference from Boris Johnson, he promised “integrity, professionalism and responsibility”.
Once the resignation of Liz Truss, initially pushed after the financial storm caused by her plans for massive tax cuts, is formally delivered to King Charles III, the sovereign will task Rishi Sunak with forming a new government, in a timetable that must be clarified shortly. It will be a first for the new sovereign, who acceded to the throne on September 8 with the death of his mother Elizabeth II.