British Conservatives choose new prime minister
Parliamentary deputies of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party on Monday elected former finance minister Rishi Sunak as the party’s new leader, and hence as Prime Minister, replacing Liz Truss who resigned last week.
It was not much of an election since Sunak was the only candidate. Any candidate needed the written support of at least 100 conservative deputies. Sunak had the support of 196 deputies.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson boasted that he was making a comeback and that 102 deputies supported him. But he dropped out of the contest, and reporters could see no sign of significant support for Johnson among deputies. The figure of 102 deputies is widely regarded as just another Johnson invention.
A third potential candidate, the Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, also dropped out when she failed to secure 100 nominations.
Sunak becomes the third British prime minister in less than three months. The Conservative leadership claims that he will be a unifying figure, able to heal the rifts in the party that were so cruelly exposed during the disastrous premierships of Johnson and Truss.
Sunak is the first person of South Asian origin to become leader of the UK. He is also one of the richest men in the country.
Opposition parties believe that Sunak, chosen by just a handful of conservative deputies, has no legitimacy. The leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, argues that the only way forward is a general election – which, according to the current opinion polls, his party would win by a landslide.
Constitutionally, a general election need not be held until 2024. An early election will only be held if a large number of conservative deputies support Starmer’s call, which seems most unlikely.
