Rishi Sunak becomes the next British Prime Minister

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is set to become Britain’s next prime minister after winning the Conservative leadership race on Monday – and now faces the huge task of stabilizing the party and the country at a time of economic and political turmoil.

Sunak will be Britain’s first color leader, and only the nation’s third leader this year. He will take over as prime minister, replacing Liz Truss, who resigned last week after a turbulent 45 days in office, leaving a staggering economy and a traumatized and divided party.

His only rival, Benny Mordaunt, quit, and withdrew after failing to reach the nomination threshold of the 100 Conservative MPs required to remain in the race.

“I can confirm that we have received one valid nomination, and therefore Rishi Sunak has been elected as the leader of the Conservative Party,” said Graham Brady, a party official.

Sunak was the front-runner as the ruling conservatives sought stability at a time of enormous economic challenges and months of chaos that consumed the last two leaders.

Sunak lost to Truss in the recent Conservative election, but his party now appears eager to deal safely with rising energy and food prices and a looming recession. The politician led the economy through the coronavirus pandemic, winning praise for his financial support of laid-off workers and closed businesses.

He promised “integrity, professionalism and accountability” if he formed a government – a veiled criticism of the Johnson-Truss scandal that has plagued the problem.

King Charles III will now ask Sonak to form a government. He will become prime minister in the event of a handover of power from Truss later Monday or Tuesday.

Sunak’s victory is historic: he is the first British Prime Minister of South Asian descent, the first Hindu to hold this position and the youngest in 200 years.

The challenge he faces is formidable as he tries to unite a frustrated and divided party that lags far behind the opposition in the polls, and seeks to prop up a faltering economy after Truss’ brief and disastrous experiment in liberal economics.

Her proposal for strict tax cuts to be paid for through government borrowing to increase the value of the pound raised the cost of government borrowing and mortgages, and forced emergency Bank of England intervention. Truss carried out a series of turns and replaced the head of the treasury but faced a rebellion from lawmakers in her party that eroded her authority.

In the lightning-quick contest to replace her, Sunak’s position bolstered after former leader Boris Johnson dramatically pulled out of the race on Sunday night, ending a short-lived, high-profile bid to return to the premiership that ousted him from little more than that. Three months ago amidst moral scandals.

Johnson spent the weekend trying to garner support from fellow Conservative lawmakers after returning from a Caribbean vacation. He said late Sunday that he had rallied the support of 102 colleagues. But he fell behind on Sunak’s support, and said he concluded that “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament”.

The prospect of Johnson’s return had thrown an already divided Conservative Party into further turmoil. He led the party to a landslide electoral victory in 2019, but his premiership was clouded by scandals over money and morals that eventually became too much for the party.

In his statement on Sunday, Johnson insisted he was “well positioned to achieve a Conservative victory” in the next national election, due by 2024. He said he was likely to win a Conservative vote against any of his rivals.

“But in the course of recent days I have unfortunately come to the conclusion that this would not be the right thing to do,” he said.

However, he hinted that he might return, saying, “I think I have a lot to give but I’m afraid this is simply not the time.”

Truss resigned Thursday after 45 days of turmoil in the job, admitting she could not deliver a failed economic package to cut taxes, which she was forced to abandon after sparking anger within her party and weeks of turmoil in financial markets.

The Conservative Party’s turmoil is fueling demands for a national election. Under the British parliamentary system, there is no need for there to be a system until the end of 2024, although the government has the ability to call it sooner.

At the moment this seems unlikely. Opinion polls say the election will spell disaster for the Conservatives, with centre-left Labor winning a large majority.