- Johnson withdraws from the contest
- Sunak officially declares that he will run
- The first vote will take place on Monday
- Sunak clearly leads the other contender Mordaunt
LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Rishi Sunak looked set to become Britain’s next prime minister after Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest on Sunday, saying that while he had enough support to make the final vote, he realized that the country and the Conservative Party needed unity. .
Johnson had returned home from a Caribbean holiday to try to win the support of 100 lawmakers to take part in Monday’s contest to replace Liz Truss, the woman who succeeded him in September after he was forced to resign over a series of scandals.
He said he had secured the support of 102 lawmakers and could have been “back in Downing Street” but had failed to persuade either Sunak or fellow contender Penny Mordaunt to join “in the interest national”.
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“I think I have a lot to offer, but I’m afraid this is not the right time,” Johnson said in the afternoon.
The former prime minister had won the public support of just under 60 conservative lawmakers on Sunday, far less than half of the nearly 150 endorsements Sunak had received.
Sterling rose more than half a cent against the dollar in early trading in Asia.
Johnson’s statement likely paves the way for his main rival, former finance minister Sunak, 42, to become prime minister, possibly as soon as Monday. If confirmed, she would replace Truss, who was forced to resign after she launched an economic program that sent financial markets into turmoil.
Under the rules, if only one candidate gets the support of 100 conservative lawmakers, he will be named prime minister on Monday.
If two candidates clear the threshold, they will go to a vote by party members, with the winner announced on Friday, just days before the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, outlines the state of the country’s finances in a budget plan to be ‘must publish. on October 31.
This had raised concerns that Johnson would return to Downing Street with the support of party members, rather than a majority of lawmakers in parliament, leaving the party deeply divided. Hunt declared his support for Sunak on Sunday afternoon.
Some Johnson supporters might switch to Mordaunt, who has run as a unity candidate, but many jumped immediately to Sunak. A source close to Mordaunt’s campaign said the former defense minister would remain in the contest.
“She is the unifying candidate most likely to hold the wings of the Conservative Party together,” the source said.
NARROW
Rishi Sunak attends a cabinet meeting of senior government ministers in London, September 1, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville
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Johnson has dominated British politics since becoming mayor of London in 2008 and becoming the face of the Brexit vote in 2016. While he led the Conservative Party to a spectacular election victory in 2019, he was forced out of just three years. later by a rebellion of his ministers.
Sunak said he hoped Johnson would continue to contribute to public life “at home and abroad.”
One Sunak supporter, who asked not to be named, said his main reaction was relief because if Johnson had won the “party would have fallen apart”.
Another Tory MP Lucy Allan said on Twitter: “I supported Boris as Prime Minister but I think he has done the right thing for the country.”
Other Johnson backers immediately jumped on board.
Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi, who minutes earlier had published an article on the Daily Telegraph website praising Johnson, said “a day is a long time in politics”.
“Rishi is immensely talented, will have a strong majority in the parliamentary Conservative Party and will have my support and loyalty,” he said.
Earlier, many of the conservative lawmakers who normally back Johnson switched their support to Sunak, saying the country needed a period of stability after months of turmoil that has made headlines and alarmed the world.
Johnson also faces a privilege committee inquiry into whether he misled parliament about Downing Street parties during the COVID-19 lockdowns. He could be forced to resign or be suspended from office if found guilty.
Sunak first came to national attention when, aged 39, he became finance minister under Johnson just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Britain, developing a furlough scheme to support millions of people through multiple blockages.
“I was your chancellor, helping to guide our economy through the most difficult times,” Sunak said in a statement Sunday. “The challenges we face now are even greater. But the opportunities, if we make the right decision, are phenomenal.”
If elected, Sunak would be the first Indian-origin Prime Minister in the UK.
His family immigrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many people from former British colonies arrived to help rebuild the country after World War II.
After graduating from Oxford University, he later went to Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire NR Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd .
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Written by Kate Holton; Additional reporting by William Schomberg and Maria Ponnezhath; Edited by Toby Chopra and Daniel Wallis
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