October 24, (THEWILL) – Conservative politician, Rishi Sunak, has won Tory’s party leadership contest for the race of British Prime Minister.
Sunak was elected Conservative leader after rival, Penny Mordaunt, pulled out of the race, having failed to secure the necessary 100 nominations from her fellow MPs.
“Rishi Sunak is, therefore, elected as leader of the Conservative Party”, senior backbencher, Graham Brady said, as Mordaunt vowed her “full support” for the former finance minister.
Sunak’s win on Monday, came days after Liz Truss’s resignation, following her disastrous tax cuts plans and policy U-turns that plunged the markets into chaos.
Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons and former defence minister, was reportedly backed by 30 MPs compared with nearly 150 supporting Sunak.
Sunak and Mordaunt had lost to Truss in an earlier race to appoint a new leader after then-Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was forced to announce his resignation in July, following a wave of scandals linked to parties entertained during the coronavirus lockdown.
While there were rumours about Johnson’s comeback over the weekend, he pulled out of the contest on Sunday.
Johnson, though, has claimed he in fact reached the “very high hurdle of 102 nominations”, but has bowed out of the race because it is ‘simply not the right thing to do.’
He said: “In the last few days I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who suggested that I should once again contest the Conservative Party leadership, both among the public and among friends and colleagues in Parliament.
“I have been attracted because I led our party into a massive election victory less than three years ago – and I believe I am therefore uniquely placed to avert a general election now.
“A general election would be a further disastrous distraction just when the government must focus on the economic pressures faced by families across the country.
“I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024 – and tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and a seconder, and I could put my nomination in tomorrow.
“There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative Party members – and that 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.
“And though I have reached out to both Rishi and Penny – because I hoped that we could come together in the national interest – we have sadly not been able to work out a way of doing this.
“Therefore I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds.
“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.”
