Rishi Sunak Set To Become Third UK Prime Minister In Three Months

Rishi Sunak is to become the UK’s next Prime Minister, the third in three months.

The news was confirmed minutes ago, as the former Chancellor of the Exchequer became the only Conservative politician to draw the support of 100 or more party MPs and qualify to run for the country’s top political job, following the resignation of Liz Truss. Sunak was nominated by 193 MPs.

Penny Mourdant, the only other MP to seek office, was unable to hit the support threshold, making Sunak the de facto winner.

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Sunak becomes the first Person of Colour to lead the UK.

Sunak will replace Truss later this week. She unceremoniously resigned last week after a disastrous spell as PM, during which the pound crashed and she was forced to almost completely backtrack on her economic plans against a chorus of disapproval. Truss is by far and away the shortest serving UK Prime Minister in history.

Sunak served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Truss’ predecessor Boris Johnson, but is blamed by many Johnson supporters for playing a key role in the plot that ousted the former Prime Minister when 62 of his key government politicians resigned en masse in July, following a series of scandals.

Johnson explored running against Sunak for the top job again this week, with several high profile politicians who had previously turned against him making public declarations of support, but he ultimately did not stand.

Feverish, and at times comical, speculation has been taking place across the British media over the weekend over whether Johnson would stand again but he dramatically confirmed he was out the race last night after cutting short a holiday in the Caribbean. He cited the fact that he had failed to reach a deal with either Sunak or Mordaunt.

For the UK, Sunak’s appointment brings to an end another period of political chaos, though many commentators and Westminster watchers remain convinced the next crisis is only around the corner. All opposition parties are desperately calling for a General Election, with the opposition Labour Party currently miles ahead in the polls.

Sunak was born in Southampton to parents of Indian descent who migrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s. His wife is Akshata Murty, the daughter of billionaire Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy.

On broadcasting, Sunak’s position on the future of BBC license fee isn’t immediately clear — he was said to have taken issue with former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries when she tweeted in January that the current funding agreement with the public broadcaster would be “the last,” but was reported over the summer to have said he is open to scrapping the mechanism.

He has backed the privatization of Channel 4, which will be a worry to the indie production community in the UK, while the film industry will hope he will step in to help the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which ceased trading earlier this month.

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