Rishi Sunak ran for Britain’s top job and lost. Then he got another shot — and the chance to say “I told you so.”
The former U.K. Treasury chief was runner-up to Liz Truss in the contest to replace the scandal-plagued Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and prime minister. But Truss quit after a turbulent 45-day term, and Johnson has abandoned a comeback attempt. That left Sunak out front, and he won the race Monday to be leader of the Conservative Party and will assume the office he missed out on less than two months ago.
Victory in the Conservative leadership contest is vindication for Sunak, who warned in the last campaign that Truss’ tax-cutting economic plans were reckless and would cause havoc. And so they did.
Truss resigned last week after her package of tax cuts spooked financial markets, hammered the value of the pound and obliterated her authority.
Sunak will be Britain’s first leader of color and the first Hindu to take the top job. At 42, he’ll also be the youngest prime minister in more than 200 years, a political prodigy whose youthful looks, sharp suits, and smooth, confident manner saw him dubbed “Dishy Rishi” by the British media.
British politician Rishi Sunak was Monday elected Conservative leader and will become the next prime minister, after rival Penny Mordaunt failed to secure the necessary 100 nominations from her fellow MPs.
“Rishi Sunak is therefore elected as leader of the Conservative party,” senior backbencher Graham Brady said, as Mordaunt vowed her “full support” for the former finance minister.
Sunak was to make his first remarks at 2:30 pm (1330 GMT), according to Brady, whose 1922 committee of Tory MPs organised a rapid leadership election following last week’s resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Former leader Boris Johnson pulled out of the race late Sunday, leaving a straight fight between Sunak and Mordaunt.
“These are unprecedented times. Despite the compressed timetable for the leadership contest it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today,” Mordaunt said in a statement.
“They have taken this decision in good faith for the good of the country.”
The Tories retain a majority in parliament, meaning that as their leader, Sunak will be named prime minister by King Charles III.
