Rishi Sunak is set to become UK Prime Minister seven weeks after losing to Liz Truss in this year’s first Tory leadership contest.
Recall that Truss, who succeeded Boris Johnson resigned last week Thursday after 45 days in office, saying she could not deliver the mandate she was elected on.
Sunak will be the UK’s first British Asian prime minister.
Sunak’s victory to succeed Truss comes after his opponent Penny Mordaunt who failled to get the backing of 100MPsdropped out of the Tory leadership race. She declared her full support to Sunak.
Announcing there was just one person with the backing of 100 MPs, 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady confirmed the new Tory leader Rishi Sunak will address MPs at 14:30 BST.
Here is Penny Mordaunt’s full statement:
“Our Party is our membership. Whether we are elected representatives, activists, fundraisers or supporters. We all have a stake in who our leader is.
“These are unprecedented times. Despite the compressed timetable for the leadership contest it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today. They have taken this decision in good faith for the good of the country.
“Members should know that this proposition has been fairly and thoroughly tested by the agreed 1922 process.
“As a result, we have now chosen our next Prime Minister. This decision is an historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support.
“I am proud of the campaign we ran and grateful to all those, across all sides of our party, who gave me their backing. We all owe it to the country, to each other and to Rishi to unite and work together for the good of the nation. There is much work to be done.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
