Rishi Sunak has won the race to be leader of the Conservative Party and will become Britain’s next prime minister — the third this year.
Sunak lost out to Truss in the last Conservative election, but his party and the country now appear eager for a safe pair of hands to tackle soaring energy and food prices and a looming recession. The politician steered the economy through the coronavirus pandemic, winning praise for his financial support for laid-off workers and shuttered businesses.
If Sunak alone clears the barrier, he will automatically become the Conservative Party leader and will be asked by King Charles III to form a government. He would become the prime minister in a handover of power from Truss later Monday or on Tuesday. Home Secretary Grant Shapps, a Sunak supporter, said the former Treasury chief did not think he had the contest “in the bag.”
Johnson dramatically quit the race on Sunday night, ending a short-lived, high-profile attempt to return to the prime minister’s job he was ousted from little more than three months ago Johnson spent the weekend trying to gain support from fellow Conservative lawmakers after flying back from a Caribbean vacation. Late Sunday he said he had amassed the backing of 102 colleagues.
“But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do,” he said.
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