Penny Mordaunt, the only other contestant in the race, has much ground to cover to hit the 100-MPs mark
London: Rishi Sunak chances to become Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister seem more likelythan ever after his former boss, Boris Johnson, confirmed he would be pulling out of the contest, a PTI report in The Tribune, Chandigarh says.
With former prime minister Johnson stepping aside Sunday night saying it wasn’t right time” for a comeback”, prospects of a Diwali victory for Sunak cannot be ruled out.
The 42-year-old former chancellor, Sunak has a solid lead in the contest, easily crossing the 100-MPs threshold to make the shortlist in time for the 1400 local time Monday deadline and may well be declared the new leader by Monday evening.
Penny Mordaunt, the only other contestant in the race, has much ground to cover to touch the 100-MPs mark. If Sunak and Mordaunt both make the final shortlist, they would go forward for an online vote of the 170,000 Tory membership and a final result on Friday.
Sunak’s victory would mark a remarkable turnaround in political fortunes for the former finance minister, who lost to outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss last month after his popularity among party colleagues was insufficient
Truss had announced her resignation as the Prime Minister on Thursday, October 20, after just 45 days in office, following an open revolt against her leadership in the Conservative Party.
In his latest campaign pitch Sunak appealed to party colleagues saying “I am asking you for the opportunity to help fix our problems,” referring to the economic turmoil he would be inheriting if he does go on to succeed Truss.
He stood firm on his focus on inflation rather than any vote-winning tax cut promises to woo a traditionally low-tax favouring Conservative Party membership base. “I will get taxes down in this Parliament, but I’m going to do so responsibly. I don’t cut taxes to win elections, I win elections to cut taxes,” he declared.
“The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis. That’s why I am standing to be leader of the Conservative Party and your next Prime Minister,” he said, promising “integrity, professionalism and accountability” at every level of the government.
The UK-born son of Indian-origin general practitioner father Yashvir and pharmacist mother Usha had spoken extensively of his migrant roots during the last campaign. The personal story also extended to his parents-in-law – Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murthy – as he hit back at attacks on his wife Akshata Murthy’s family wealth.
“I’m actually incredibly proud of what my parents-in-law built,” he said, during heated television debates over the past few months.
He stood firm on his focus on inflation rather than any vote-winning tax cut promises to woo a traditionally low-tax favouring Conservative Party membership base. “I will get taxes down in this Parliament, but I’m going to do so responsibly. I don’t cut taxes to win elections, I win elections to cut taxes,” he declared.
His self-made credentials of working his way through a non-scholarship place at one of the UK’s best schools, Winchester College, to a coveted Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from Oxford University and then an MBA from Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar tick all the right boxes for the country’s highest political office.
His private sector experience at Goldman Sachs and as a hedge fund manager seem to lend him the aura of someone who can be trusted in the face of harsh economic headwinds, further bolstered by his prescient warnings over Truss’ unfunded tax cuts.
His political career began after winning a Tory seat of Richmond in Yorkshire in 2015. He was then catapulted to the post of Chancellor of Exchequer when his former boss, Sajid Javid, resigned in February 2020.
He proved the doubters who feared his inexperience of high office would see him wrong as he credibly led the economic response to the COVID pandemic.
He was constantly touted as the heir apparent to Johnson until that took a beating with some of his less popular tax hike policies in the wake of the pandemic.
This round seems to be firmly tilted in his favour, and if he goes on to be elected the third British Prime Minister in three months, he faces the onerous task of trying to unite a deeply divided Tory party at one of the most perilous times for the British economy.
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