British PM election: Rishi Sunak declares candidacy, says will fix economy

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 23

Indian-origin former chancellor Rishi Sunak on Sunday formally declared his candidacy to contest the Conservative Party leadership election to replace Liz Truss as British PM and “fix the economy”.

While the 42-year-old is the clear frontrunner as he has already secured the support of 129 MPs, former PM Boris Johnson and former Defence Minister Penny Mordaunt are working the aisles to secure the support of at least 100 MPs by Monday to be eligible for a contest.

Only 53 MPs have declared their support to Johnson and Mordaunt has the backing of just 23 MPs. Rumour mills worked overtime with a reported meeting between Sunak and Johnson and another between Mordaunt and Johnson as the three attempted to make it a two-way race by getting one of the contenders to pull out.

In a boost to Sunak, Indian-origin Suella Braverman, who recently resigned as Home Secretary, also came out in his support on Sunday.

Under the rules, if only Sunak passes the threshold of 100 lawmakers on Monday then he will be declared PM. If more than one secures over 100 declarations from MPs, then 1.7 lakh signed-up members of the Conservative Party will participate in a vote and the winner will be announced on Friday.

Interestingly, Sunak is being backed by prominent Pakistani-origin Conservative MPs and Boris Johnson is being supported by some prominent Indian-origin Tory MPs. Sunak is being supported by Sajid Javid, former Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer; and Rehman Chishti, former minister. Johnson has the backing of Priti Patel, former Home Secretary; Alok Sharma, former Environment Minister; and Shailesh Vara, a long-time Conservative MP.

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