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London (AP):
Former finance minister Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s first prime minister of colour after being chosen to lead the ruling Conservative Party on Monday, which desperately needs a safe pair of hands to guide the country through the economy and politics. turmoil.
The challenges facing Britain’s third prime minister this year are enormous: He must work to shore up a slide into recession and falter after his predecessor’s brief, disastrous experiment in liberal economics, while also trying to unite a demoralized, divided party. trailing the opposition in opinion polls.
In his first public statement, Sunak said: “The UK is a great country, but there is no doubt that we face profound economic challenges.”
“We need stability and unity now and I will make it my priority to bring our party and our country together,” said Sunak, 42, Britain’s youngest prime minister in 200 years.
Sunak would become the first British prime minister of South Asian descent and the first Hindu leader – a milestone and still controversial for a country with an extensive colonial history.
Sunak elects the main Diwali festival to take over from Liz Truss, who last week took 45 days off and he went on 45 days. His only remaining rival, Penny Mordaunt, conceded and dropped out after failing to meet the nomination threshold of 100 Conservative MPs needed to stay in the race.
Sunak will now form a government at the behest of King Charles III and take over power from Truss as prime minister on Tuesday.
Defend Sunak
Sunak lost to Truss in the Conservative Party election to replace former Prime Minister Boris Johnson this summer, when members of the party opted for her tax-cut boosterism over his warning that inflation must be tamed.
Truss admitted last week that she couldn’t deliver on her plan – but only if her attempts sparked market disruption and fueled inflation at a time when millions of Britons are already struggling with soaring borrowing costs and rising energy and food struggling with the price.
After months of chaos, the party now desperately needs someone to rectify the ship – both in Truss’s short term and at the end of Johnson’s term.
As finance minister, Sunak has steered the economy through the coronavirus pandemic and has won praise for his financial support for laid-off workers and failing businesses.
He now faces the formidable challenge of reassuring markets and trying to rein in inflation amid weak government finances, a deteriorating economic outlook and a wave of strikes. Treasurer Jeremy Hunt, appointed by Truss 10 days ago, is due to issue an emergency budget statement on October 31 – if Sunak keeps him on the job.
Britain also faces wider economic problems stemming from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the country’s 2020 exit from the European Union. Sunak is a staunch supporter of Brexit.
Sunak was cheered by Tory MPs in a crowded private session of Parliament minutes after winning the race on Monday.
Former cabinet minister Chris Grayling said Sunak had received a “warm welcome” for urging the party to “unite to solve the problems facing the country”.
Truss’ deputy prime minister, Therese Coffey, said the whole party should now support Sunak.
“We need to support him,” she said.
resentment remains
But Sunak still faces grievances from Johnson’s supporters who quit the government in July, a move that helped oust the then-leader. His background as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and the vast fortune of his wife — the daughter of an Indian billionaire — also made him feel disconnected from the struggles of ordinary people.
He took over after Truss’ proposals for aggressive tax cuts to be paid for through government borrowing battered the value of the pound, driving up the cost of government borrowing and home mortgages and forcing the Bank of England to intervene urgently. Truss performed a series of U-turns and replaced her finance minister, but faced a rebellion from lawmakers in the party that eroded her authority.
In a lightning-fast race to replace her, Sunak’s standing was strengthened after Johnson’s sharp withdrawal from the race on Sunday night ended his brief but high-profile return to prime minister after he was ousted more than three months ago. Attempt at position amid ethics scandal.
The prospect of Johnson’s return has plunged the already divided Conservative Party into further turmoil. He led the party to a big win in 2019, but his prime ministership has been clouded by money and ethics scandals that ultimately overwhelmed the party.
He threw in the towel late on Sunday, despite insisting he was “perfectly capable of securing a Conservative victory in the next national election”.
Unrest in the Conservative Party is driving demand for a national election. Under the UK’s parliamentary system, there won’t be a need for one until the end of 2024, although the government has the power to convene one earlier.
At the moment, this looks unlikely. Opinion polls suggest the election will spell disaster for the Conservatives, with the centre-left Labour winning a majority.
Tim Bell, a professor of political science at Queen Mary University of London, said the Conservatives were “not out of the woods yet” even after choosing Sunak.
“Certainly I think voters, while they might give Rishi Sunak a little backlash, a little thumbs up is not Liz Truss, they certainly don’t like the Conservative Party as a whole,” he said. “So I don’t think it will have a huge impact on the polls.”
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