After the former British Defence Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, announced her withdrawal from the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party in Britain, Rishi Sunak became the sole contender, thus becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister.

Sunak had the support of the majority of his party's MPs, with more than 180 backing him, slightly more than half of the party members in Parliament.

Meanwhile, his rival Mordaunt garnered only 26 public supporters, much less than the 100 MPs she needed, which led her to withdraw.

The former Chancellor of the Exchequer officially announced yesterday, Sunday, his candidacy for the position of Prime Minister and head of the Conservatives, aiming to "fix the economy, unify the party, and provide assistance to the country," according to his statement.

Heavy Tasks

It is noted that the campaign to reach 10 Downing Street began last Thursday following the resignation of Liz Truss after only 44 days in power, after being elected at the beginning of last September by Conservative Party members, in a contest against Sunak himself who lost the race then.

The next Prime Minister faces difficult tasks, as he will lead a country immersed in a severe crisis amid rising living costs, with inflation exceeding 10 percent.

He will also have to calm the markets that have been turbulent since Truss’s government budget announcement at the end of September.

He must attempt to unify a party divided for years, just two years before the legislative elections. Meanwhile, the Labour Party has risen to its highest popularity levels according to opinion polls, after 12 years of Conservative rule, of which the next Prime Minister will be the fifth leader since 2016, according to AFP.

Sunak and Johnson's Origins
Sunak, the grandson of immigrants of Punjabi origin, followed the usual path of the British elite, and is a wealthy former banker who will become, if he wins, the first non-white British Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson always enjoys popularity among the conservative base, but he causes division within his camp. He is still under a parliamentary investigation to determine whether he lied to Parliament about illegal parties at "Downing Street" during Covid-19 lockdowns.

Meanwhile, the opposition Labour Party, improving its position in polls, withdrew its call for early elections.
Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labour Party, wrote on Twitter that "The Conservatives are about to hand Rishi Sunak the keys to the country without him ever saying a word about how he will govern," adding, "No one voted for this."