Rishi Sunak Poised To Become UK’s Next PM As Boris Johnson Quits Race

Rishi Sunak is poised to become the next UK PM after Boris Johnson quit the race.

Eko Hot Blog reports that former Chancellor of the United Kingdom (UK), Rishi Sunak, is now the favourite to become Britain’s next Prime Minister (PM) after former PM, Boris Johnson, pulled out of the race to get his old job back.

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Recall that the resignation of current PM, Liz Truss, last week has led to the leadership race.

In a statement on Sunday night, Johnson announced he will not vie for the Conservative Party leadership.

Boris Johnson

He noted that despite having the support of the members of parliament (MPs) required to run, he had come to the conclusion “this would simply not be the right thing to do” as “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament”.

The former PM also mentioned that he could not convince any of Sunak and the leader of the UK House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt—-the two remaining candidates in the race—to step down.

“In the last few days, I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who suggested that I should once again contest the Conservative Party leadership, both among the public and among friends and colleagues in Parliament. I have been attracted because I led our party into a massive election victory less than three years ago – and I believe I am therefore uniquely placed to avert a general election now,” Johnson said.

“A general election would be a further disastrous distraction just when the Government must focus on the economic pressures faced by families across the country. I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024 – and tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and a seconder, and I could put my nomination in tomorrow.

“There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative Party members – and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday. 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. You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.

“And though I have reached out to both Rishi (Sunak) and Penny (Mordaunt) – because I hoped that we could come together in the national interest – we have sadly not been able to work out a way of doing this. Therefore I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds.

“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.”

Johnson’s withdrawal puts Sunak in pole position to win Monday’s leadership vote.

According to BBC, at least 147 MPs have publicly declared their support for him—far more than the threshold of 100 MPs.

A candidate needs at least 100 nominations from MPs to proceed to the next round.

Mordaunt currently has the public support of 24 MPs and will be counting on Johnson’s former backers to qualify on Monday.

Penny Mordaunt

Despite the overwhelming perception that she’s an underdog, a campaign source told the news agency PA Media that she remains in the race to be the country’s next PM.

“Penny is still running to be the leader of the Conservative Party,” the source was quoted as saying.

“Penny is the unifying candidate who is most likely to keep the wings of the Conservative Party together and polling shows that she is the most likely candidate to hold onto the seats the Conservative Party gained in 2019.

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“Ed Balls [former Shadow Chancellor], shadow cabinet ministers and Labour advisers have all said Penny is the candidate Keir Starmer fears the most.”

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