Rishi Sunak, a former Treasury official, was elected as the head of the ruling Conservative Party in the expectation that he will be a reliable leader for Britain during this period of economic and political unrest.
Sunak, a member of the sizable South Asian population in the UK, won the election and will become the nation’s first prime minister of colour, making it a historic triumph for the country.
But the third prime minister this year has a lot of obstacles: He must work to unify a fragmented and demoralised party that is far behind the opposition in polls while also trying to stabilise an economy that is on the verge of recession and hurting from his predecessor’s brief, disastrous experiment with libertarian economics.
In his first public statement, Sunak said “the United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge”.
He declared, “I will make it my best duty to bring our party and our country together. We now need stability and togetherness.”
Liz Truss, who resigned last week after 45 turbulent days in office, is replaced by Sunak. His only remaining rival, Penny Mordaunt, conceded and withdrew after failing to reach the nomination threshold of 100 Conservative lawmakers needed to stay in the race.
King Charles III will now invite Sunak to form a cabinet, and Sunak will succeed Truss as prime minister, probably on Tuesday (local time).
Sunak, who lost to Truss in the Conservative race to succeed former prime minister Boris Johnson over the summer because party members preferred her advocacy for tax cuts to his warnings that inflation must be controlled, is vindicated by victory.
Truss conceded last week that she could not deliver on her plans – but only after her attempts triggered market chaos and worsened inflation at a time when millions of Britons were already struggling with soaring borrowing costs and energy and food prices.
After months of instability – both during Truss’ brief time and at the conclusion of Johnson’s – the party is now in desperate need of someone to turn the ship around.
In his role as finance minister, Sunak guided the economy through the coronavirus pandemic and received accolades for providing aid to businesses that had to close their doors and lay off people.
But now that Truss has left office, he must calm the markets and attempt to control inflation. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt, appointed by Truss 10 days ago, is due to make an emergency budget statement October 31 – if Sunak keeps him in the job.
In addition, Britain is dealing with bigger economic issues brought on by the pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, and the country’s 2020 withdrawal from the European Union. Sunak was a staunch advocate for Brexit.
Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said Sunak’s government faces a long list of challenges: weakened public finances, a worsening economic outlook and a wave of strikes amid record-high inflation.
Sunak was deemed by Bale to be “much more capable” than Truss, but the Conservative Party was still “far from out of the woods,” according to Bale.
In a jam-packed private meeting in Parliament minutes after winning the election overnight NZT, Conservative parliamentarians roared with approval for Sunak, who will also serve as the UK’s first Hindu prime minister and, at 42, the youngest in 200 years.
Former Cabinet minister Chris Grayling stated that Sunak received “a thunderous reception” after urging the party to “unite and address the difficulties the country faces.”
Former deputy prime minister for Truss, Therese Coffey, declared that Sunak should now have the support of the entire party.
She added, “We need to support him.
But Sunak still faces resentment from supporters of Johnson for quitting the government in July, a move that helped topple the then-leader.
There is a perception that he is out of touch with the hardships of regular people due to his past as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and his wife’s enormous fortune (she is the daughter of an Indian billionaire).
Future UK PM Rishi Sunak will deal with serious economic issues.
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