After other contenders withdrew from the campaign to lead the Conservative Party, Rishi Sunak was designated to take over as prime minister of the United Kingdom on Monday. According to Reuters, he will have the difficult challenge of guiding a profoundly divided nation through an economic crisis that will make millions of people poorer.
King Charles will invite Sunak, one of the wealthiest lawmakers in Westminster, to form a government to replace Liz Truss, the outgoing prime minister who held the position for only 44 days.
While his challenger, the former prime minister Boris Johnson, withdrew from the race claiming, he could no longer unify the party. Sunak overcame centrist politician Penny Mordaunt, who was unable to secure enough support from parliamentarians to be included in the vote.
[bs-quote quote=”This decision is an historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support.
” style=”default” align=”left” color=”” author_name=”Penelope Marie Mordaunt” author_job=”Member of the Conservative Party” author_avatar=”” author_link=””][/bs-quote]
Following the announcement of Mordaunt’s departure, the value of the pound and British government bonds momentarily increased but then fell back to their former levels.
Former finance minister Sunak, 42, takes office as Britain’s third prime minister in less than two months to be the first prime minister of Indian descent to lead the United Kingdom. He is tasked with bringing peace to a nation that has been in instability for years due to political and economic unrest.
Sunak attended Stanford University following his graduation from Oxford University, where he met his future wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, the creator of the world’s largest outsourcing company Infosys Ltd.
The wealthy former hedge fund manager is anticipated to implement significant spending cuts in an effort to restore Britain’s fiscal credibility as the nation is being pulled into a recession by rising energy and food prices. Sunak gained widespread recognition when, at the age of 39, he was appointed finance minister by Johnson just as influenza struck Great Britain and created the effective furlough program.
Since voting to leave the European Union in 2016, which sparked a war at Westminster over the future of the nation that is still unresolved to this day, Britain has been stuck in a permanent state of crisis.