Will he be able to get the country out of the political and financial crisis in which it has been plunged for several months? Rishi Sunak was nominated by the British Conservatives to be the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Monday October 24, after the departure of Liz Truss from Downing Street on Thursday.
Unlucky candidate this summer against the former British Prime Minister, who resigned after only 44 days in power, the former British finance minister, 42, benefited from the renunciation of the former head of the British government, Boris Johnson. His other opponent, Penny Mordaunt also threw in the towelMonday afternoon.
Supported by more than half of the Conservative MPs, Mr. Sunak announced his candidacy on Sunday evening. “I want to restore our economy, unite our party and act for our country”, he said on Twitterpromising in a tackle to Boris Johnson “integrity, professionalism and responsibility”.
First non-white man to head the government
The grandson of immigrants of Indian origin with the classic background of the British elite, Rishi Sunak, a very wealthy former banker, becomes the first non-white to lead the government.
The former chancellor, guardian of budgetary orthodoxy and workaholic, seduces a large part of his camp while the country is going through a severe economic and social crisis, with inflation at more than 10% and strikes which are multiplying. The situation has continued to deteriorate in recent months as the government has been paralyzed by the successive upheavals agitating the majority and has been further aggravated by the mistakes of Liz Truss which have destabilized the markets and caused the pound sterling to fall.
Mr. Sunak had regularly denounced Liz Truss’ economic plan this summer and he appears to be a reassuring figure for the British markets. On Monday, the pound sterling rose with the possibility of the appointment of the former finance minister as head of government.
Rishi Sunak is the fifth tenant of 10 Downing Street since the Brexit referendum in 2016, which opened a page of unprecedented economic and political turbulence in the United Kingdom.