(CMR) Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak won the race to be Britain's next prime minister on Monday, the first British Asian to assume the role and the third leader in seven weeks.
He will take over from Liz Truss, who resigned after only 44 days in office.
Sunak(42), one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, is expected to be invited to form a government by King Charles III on Tuesday, a ceremonial duty the country’s new monarch will carry out for the first time.
“Rishi Sunak is therefore elected as leader of the Conservative Party,” Graham Brady, the Conservative lawmaker who oversees the party's leadership elections, told his colleagues, who banged on tables and cheered at the announcement.
Sunak will step up to lead Britain as it heads for one of the toughest downturns in decades.
The multi-millionaire former hedge fund boss will be expected to launch deep spending cuts to try to rebuild Britain's fiscal reputation as the country deals with a recession.
According to Reuters, Sunak will also have to work hard to hold Britain's dominant political party together after some accused him of treachery earlier this year when he resigned from the cabinet of former leader Boris Johnson, triggering a wider rebellion.
Others have accused him of being too rich to understand the day-to-day economic pressures building in Britain and question whether he could ever win an election for a party that has been in power for 12 years.
“I think this decision sinks us as a party for the next election,” one Conservative lawmaker told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The pound and British government bond prices jumped briefly on news of Sunak's win but soon returned to their previous levels.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
