LONDON – Former finance minister Rishi Sunak made a political comeback Monday when she was elected prime minister by Britain’s ruling Conservative Party, just seven weeks after she was beaten by Liz Truss.
Sunak, 42, officially became prime minister after meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, where he received symbolic permission to take on the role in a ceremony known as the “kiss of hands”.
Altar became the fifth British prime minister in six years and the third in less than two months. He is Britain’s first South Asian leader, first Hindu prime minister, and the country’s first colored leader. He is the youngest prime minister of modern times.
He won an internal party contest to become the country’s new leader following Truss’ resignation on October 20. His tenure was the shortest ever for a British prime minister and was marked by economic turmoil. British voters choose a party, not a particular leader, meaning the ruling party has the freedom to replace a prime minister without calling an election. Altar won the party competition after rival Penny Mordaunt quit.
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Britain’s economic turmoil
Britain is taking over as it faces extremely difficult economic times.
Forecasts show that its economy is already in recession and the country is facing some of the highest energy and borrowing costs in Europe. The International Monetary Fund said it would push prices higher. Annual inflation in the UK reached its highest level in 40 years with 10.1 percent in September.
Sunak said on Tuesday that Britain is facing a “deep economic crisis”.
He is a former banker and served as Finance Minister – Finance Minister in Boris Johnson’s government. He oversaw Johnson’s economic support package for businesses and workers during the coronavirus pandemic, but stepped down over the summer, citing a “fundamentally different” economic approach to dealing with the UK’s cost of living crisis and government “standards”, Johnson’s gaffe-prone controversial leadership style that has led to various allegations of misconduct.
Johnson withdrew from the competition late Sunday to replace Truss after signaling a dramatic return to Downing Street following his own resignation in July. His nearly three-year, scandal-ridden term as prime minister came to an end amid a wave of resignations from his Cabinet over allegations that he broke his own coronavirus lockdown rules by holding a series of social events, and opposition to addressing allegations of harassment against a Conservative. legislator
Who is Rishi Sunak?
Sunak’s rapid rise to the top of politics came after a privileged upbringing and a lucrative marriage. Sunak is married to the daughter of the co-founder of Infosys, one of India’s largest technology companies. The couple met while studying at Stanford University. They have an estimated net worth of $1 billion, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, an annual index of the 1,000 richest people and families residing in the UK.
Altar was born and raised in southern England. His mother was a pharmacist and his father was a doctor. He attended Oxford University and Winchester College, one of the UK’s most prestigious preparatory schools, before earning an MBA from Stanford.
Altar spoke often about his Indian origins and being a practicing Hindu. He said that when the finance minister was one of the proudest moments of his career, the Finance Minister lit Diwali candles outside his office and home. The altar was named prime minister at the Hindu religious festival.
Truss became the fourth British prime minister to resign since the country’s vote to leave the European Union in 2016. An economic and legal divorce, Brexit has sparked unprecedented political division and chaos in a nation typically revered as a stable and reliable model of governance. The Bank of England, England’s central bank, was forced to buy government bonds known as “gilts” after Truss announced a series of aggressive tax cuts days after he took office. The pound exchange rate fell.
With the Altar’s occupation of No. 10 Downing Street, it is unlikely to have a significant impact on London’s economic and diplomatic relationship with Washington. There is broad coherence in all the major national security issues of the day, from support for Ukraine as Russia wages its war there to countering China’s global rise.
Altar is less strident than Truss on the EU-agreed Northern Ireland Protocol, designed to deal with the border between Ireland (part of the EU) and Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom).
US lawmakers have expressed concern that failure to respect the protocol could threaten the fragile peace in Northern Ireland.
Numerous surveys show that the majority of Britons, especially young people, would choose to be part of the EU when given the option. However, there is little appetite for a new vote.
Altar will have to make difficult tax and spending decisions during his first days and weeks in office as he tries to stabilize Britain’s beleaguered economy.
Altar struggled with a challenge from Penny Mordaunt, a former defense and commerce secretary in the Johnson administration, whom Truss had appointed as speaker of the House of Commons. Mordaunt was a prominent supporter of Brexit. He withdrew from the competition on Monday.
What is Rishi Sunak’s plan for the economy?
- During Sunak’s previous attempt to become prime minister, he warned that Truss’s plan to cut taxes and borrow money during an inflation crisis would lead to financial chaos. That’s exactly what Truss did, and that’s what happened.
- In a brief statement at the Conservative Party’s headquarters in London on Monday, Sunak warned that Britain was facing “profound” economic difficulties. Sunak echoed this message while speaking outside Downing Street on Tuesday, saying the country is in the midst of an economic “crisis” and that as prime minister Truss will work day and night to correct some of his mistakes.
- Still, Sunak said little about how Britain plans to remedy its economic woes. But markets have seen him as a relatively safe couple since his tenure as finance minister, and restoring Britain’s economic credibility and calming shaken markets is in some ways his top priority. Britain’s FTSE 100 benchmark stock index rose after Sunak’s announcement that he would become prime minister. The sterling currency also appreciated against the dollar and euro currencies.
- Britain’s new leader has yet to say whether current finance minister Jeremy Hunt, appointed by Truss as part of a last-ditch effort to save his prime ministership, will remain in office. But Hunt will unveil a new economic plan for the UK on 31 October. Hunt signaled that this would involve painful cuts in government spending.
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