Ellie Henderson
Rishi Sunak has emerged as the UK’s new Prime Minister—the fifth in six years—after winning the Conservative Party’s leadership contest.
Following the dramatic resignation of Liz Truss on 20 October after a mere 44 days as Prime Minister, the Conservative Party set Monday 24 October as the deadline for choosing their next leader—and, therefore, the country’s new prime minister.
As candidates for Prime Minister required the support of a minimum of 100 colleagues, there were currently only three candidates for the role with strong potential: Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, and Boris Johnson.
The Leadership Contest
Both Sunak and Mordaunt lost to Truss in the previous leadership contest, making them the most likely candidates to choose to run again. The BBC reported on the Friday that Sunak appeared to have the greatest support, with 45 MPs backing him compared to 24 supporting Johnson and 17 for Mordaunt. Indeed, supporters for all candidates grew in numbers as the Monday deadline approached, but it was Sunak that came out victorious with 193 MPs ultimately behind him.
The process required that the successful candidate had a minimum of 100 supporters by 2 pm on Monday. If more than one candidate achieved this, the decision would be made through a Conservative MP ballot and an online vote by Conservative Party members.
Could Boris Johnson have returned?
Whilst Penny Mordaunt did not prove to be a threat to Sunak, with her final number of backers coming to a mere 26, Boris Johnson proved greater competition.
“[Johnson’s] return would have been shocking – although entirely possible given his levels of support – as he was forced out of the role through Tory revolt only six weeks ago.”
Johnson narrowed the race by ruling himself out on Sunday 23 October, stating: “…tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations … I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday. But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.”
As he did this a matter of hours before the deadline, it was a very real possibility that Johnson could have returned to Downing Street. As former Prime Minister, his return would have been shocking—although entirely possible given his levels of support—as he was forced out of the role through Tory revolt only six weeks ago.
Johnson had not only achieved more than the required number of nominations, but also had the backing of a number of important members of the party, including former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg. He called for Johnson’s nomination by tweeting the hashtag ‘‘#BORISorBUST’, but has since resigned from his role following Sunak’s win.
The hashtag ‘#BringBackBoris’ was also circulated amongst his supporters, including Conservative MP Karl McCartney.
— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) October 21, 2022
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, previously rumoured to potentially launch a campaign, ruled himself out on Friday and stated that he was also “leaning towards” supporting Johnson, as the BBC reported. Yet despite his levels of support, it became clear that Johnson’s return would simply be too divisive for the Conservative Party, and likely cause even further internal turmoil.
What do we know about Rishi Sunak?
Rishi Sunak’s leadership victory is notable for a variety of reasons. He is the first person of colour to ever serve as UK Prime Minister and, at 42 years old, is the youngest person to take on the role in over 200 years.
A former hedge-fund manager, Sunak is estimated to be worth £730 million alongside his wife, making him richer than the British Royals. Indeed, his wife was criticised earlier this year for paying no UK tax on her large earnings abroad.
“Sunak [has] made it clear that he disagreed with Truss’ financial approach and had predicted the problems it would cause, claiming that her plans for high levels of borrowing were a ‘fairytale’.”
In his political career, Sunak held the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer between 2020 and 2022—meaning he was in charge of financial aid during the UK’s COVID-19 lockdowns—and previously served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He has been a Conservative MP since 2015.
Coming into his role as Prime Minister, Sunak had already made it clear that he disagreed with Truss’ economic approach and had predicted the problems it would cause, claiming that her plans for high levels of borrowing were a “fairytale”.
After his victory was confirmed, Sunak directly acknowledged the political and economic turmoil currently existing in the country, stating: “The UK is a great country but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge. We now need stability and unity and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together.”
Opposition calls for a general election
There has been extensive criticism of the Conservative leadership race and its perceived undemocratic nature, with calls for a general election from opposition parties and leaders including Labour’s Keir Starmer and the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon. Although constitutionally legitimate, the Conservatives chose the nation’s prime minister without consultation of the British public—and for the second time in a matter of weeks.
“The prospect of an early election also appears to be well supported by the public, with nearly 900,000 signatures on a petition calling for a general election.”
Keir Starmer stated that the Conservative Party has “shown it no longer has a mandate to govern”, and the British public “deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos”.
The prospect of an early election also appears to be well supported by the public, with nearly 900,000 signatures on a petition calling for a general election. However, as this decision lies in the hands of the Conservatives—who are 39 points behind Labour in recent polls—it remained unlikely, and Sunak indeed ruled it out altogether almost immediately after his victory.
Sunak now faces an empowered Labour opposition, frustrated public, and some of the greatest economic and political instability seen in Britain for decades.
Featured image courtesy of Nick Kane on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
Ellie Henderson
Glasgow-based freelance journalist and editorial intern, specialising in news, politics, and music journalism.