First modification:
Sunak once again aspires to the British Conservative leadership and made it known by confirming that he will run for the position of Prime Minister, replacing Liz Truss. His candidacy comes after obtaining the greatest public support from parliamentarians and joins the initial candidacy of Penny Mordaunt, the former Defense Minister. On the side of former premier Boris Johnson, it remains to be seen if he will fight again in the race.
Will the second time be the charm? Rishi Sunak, who in September lost the internal election of the Conservative Party to become prime minister, confirmed on October 23 that he will run for office again, after the resignation of his former rival in that contest, and still premier, Liz Truss.
Sunak re-emerges on the scene as the politician who has the largest number of parliamentary votes, at least publicly promised, to possibly now stay with the head of government.
The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis.
That’s why I am standing to be Leader of the Conservative Party and your next Prime Minister.
I want to fix our economy, unite our Party and deliver for our country. pic.twitter.com/BppG9CytAK
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 23, 2022
Confirming his candidacy, Sunak said he wants to get the UK economy back on track and unite both the ruling movement and the nation.
“The choice our party makes now will decide whether the next generation of Britons will have more opportunities than the last. (…) That is why I am running to be your next Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party. I want to fix our economy, unite our country and deliver for our country,” he defended.
And it is that the decisions regarding the financial situation of the United Kingdom were triggers in the resignation of Truss, announced on October 20. The country is going through a challenging economic context after leaving the European Union and in the midst of the generalized crisis due to the Russian war in Ukraine, with its respective effects on high fuel costs and inflation.
“I served as your chancellor, helping to direct our economy in the most difficult times (…) The challenges we face now are even greater. But the opportunities, if we make the right decision, are phenomenal,” said the man who could deliver a forceful political revenge if he is confirmed as the successor of who was his rival in the past contest.
Sunak joins Mordaunt in the race; Johnson tries to rally support
Rishi Sunak confirmed his candidacy after former Defense Minister Penny Mordaunt did, who was the first to announce her candidacy on Saturday night.
The British press indicates that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Truss’s predecessor, is focused on gathering the necessary support before confirming that he will run for that position again.
The internal affairs editor of the newspaper ‘The Times’ Matt Dathan -as well as other local newspapers- reported that Johnson and Mordaunt met this Sunday afternoon. It is believed that the former leader of the ‘Tories’ asked the former Minister of Defense to support him and she would have responded with a resounding no.
Plus, most of his allies would rather switch to Rishi Sunak than Johnson.
Mordaunt is further behind Johnson in the count of lawmakers who support her. She has the support of 24 deputies, compared to the 57 publicly expressed in favor of Johnson, according to the newspaper ‘The Guardian’.
However, supporters of the former prime minister point out that he would already have the necessary threshold of 100 lawmakers to support him, but that many of them remain silent, because they still have positions in the government.
Meanwhile, Sunak has around 140 potential votes, after MP Nusrat Ghani confirmed her support.
Another of the notary endorsements that the former foreign minister publicly obtained in recent hours was that of the former Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman, who resigned from that portfolio last Wednesday, October 19, in the midst of the parliamentary whirlwind that was pressing for the resignation of Liz Truss.
“Things have to change. We as a party have to change. We need to provide leadership, stability and confidence to the British people. We cannot indulge in parochial or nativist fantasies. Yes, I want a leader of our Party and of our country who inspires hope for a better future and lift our spirits. And I need a leader who will put our house in order and put a firm and careful hand on the helm. That person, for me, is Rishi Sunak,” said the woman who also served as Attorney General under the Executive of Boris Johnson.
Britain has seen two prime ministers resign in three months, after Truss was forced to step down when her radical economic policies pushed up borrowing costs and mortgage rates.
A financial chaos that hit the pound sterling and in which the Bank of England intervened to stabilize the markets. The newly appointed finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, completely dismantled the controversial plan and a new medium-term fiscal program is expected to be presented on October 31.
With Reuters and local media
