How many chances does Rishi Sunak have to become UK PM?
After Boris Johnson unexpectedly stopped his campaign for prime minister, Rishi Sunak appears to be in line to succeed him. Penny Mordaunt, the other candidate, is far from reaching the necessary threshold to run in the election to succeed Liz Truss.
After Boris Johnson withdrew from the campaign to succeed Liz Truss on Sunday evening, Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor of the Exchequer, was in line to become Britain’s next prime minister as soon as Monday. Since Ms. Truss announced her departure on Thursday, the contenders for the top position at Downing Street have been scrambling to assemble nominations from Conservative Party legislators.
With significantly more nominations than Mr. Johnson, who mounted an arduous and ultimately fruitless battle to regain the position he lost only three months ago in a wave of scandals, Mr. Sunak, who lost a leadership race to Ms. Truss this summer, is the undisputed front-runner. As major party members backed Mr. Sunak as a superior candidate to try to heal a bitterly split party, the former prime minister’s campaign never gained traction.
Observe the following:
For their names to appear on the ballot, candidates must collect nominations from at least 100 supporters by Monday at 2 p.m. (9 a.m. Eastern). On Friday, Mr. Sunak crossed that line. On Sunday night, Penny Mordaunt, his lone survivor, was still a long way from the finish line.
The vote will be held by Conservative lawmakers if more than one candidate receives the necessary nominations. At six o’clock, results are anticipated to be revealed (1 p.m. Eastern). The winner will become the next head of the party and the following prime minister of the United Kingdom if just one contender is still in the running.
The party will conduct a second ballot if there are still two candidates after the first vote, and the outcome will be announced at 9 p.m. (4 p.m. Eastern). That will either result in a certain winner or two candidates who will then compete for the support of the party’s 170,000 members on Friday.
The third prime minister to lead Britain this year will face a plethora of economic difficulties. Last month saw the fastest increase in food costs in more than 40 years, pushing annual inflation above the ten percent mark. An increase in the cost of living and labor discontent are the results of wages that have not kept pace with price increases. Even as the economy sputters, interest rates are expected to rise.
The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis.
That’s why I am standing to be Leader of the Conservative Party and your next Prime Minister.
I want to fix our economy, unite our Party and deliver for our country. pic.twitter.com/BppG9CytAK
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 23, 2022
