His landslide victory among Conservative Party deputies promises a restoration of political stability
Rishi Sunak becomes the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the withdrawal of his rival, Penny Mordaunt, a minute before the deadline for 100 Conservative Party representatives to sign their support for the candidates. King Carlos III will ask a political leader for the first time this Tuesday to try and form the government. The election suggests a horizon of greater stability.
Sunak’s victory reflects the urgency felt by the parliamentary group to quickly end a period of relative chaos in the government, from the overthrow of Boris Johnson to the immediate collapse of the government of his successor, Liz Truss. The financial crisis exacerbated by the latter’s failed mini-budget has led to austerity in the political environment.
Supporters of Penny Mordaunt confirmed all morning of this Monday that the candidate already had 90 points of support and that she would cross the necessary threshold to enter the second phase. They also insisted on their willingness to force the election of party members between the two candidates who had received more than a hundred signatures. Mordaunt is popular with the militants.
At the same time, his campaign staff publicly advised giving up his ambition and trying to reach an agreement with Sunak. As a ‘Brexiter’ activist, she hoped for support from the European Research Group (ERG) faction, but members of the association of Eurosceptic MPs could not agree on a candidate.
At 42 years old, Sunak is the youngest British head of government in modern times, and the first non-white to follow the teachings of Hinduism. Perhaps also the first abstainer. He is one of the wealthiest MPs and his wife, Akshata Murthy, is a businesswoman and investor, the daughter of an Indian billionaire. He has often been portrayed as spreadsheet-obsessed and enthusiastic about video games and Star Wars.
Members of the ERG, who played a key role in bringing down former Prime Minister Theresa May, warned the two candidates that they would have to stick to their promises during the summer campaign that they would be blunt in negotiations with the European Commission on the protocol that the arranges freight transport. traffic between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
This Friday is the deadline for the London government to call regional elections, due to the boycott of the Belfast Assembly by the Democratic Unionist Party while protocol remains in force. In Truss’ short time there was a cooling of tensions between London and Brussels. Sunak is likely to keep alive the bill that would allow the unilateral withdrawal of parts of Johnson’s negotiated Brexit deal.
The new prime minister will have to make decisions that justify protests in the seats of a parliamentary faction, which is often labeled as ungovernable. But the priority is economic. He will have to decide whether to present a budget at the end of this month, which Truss and current Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt have agreed to, or whether he will give himself more time.
The announcement of Johnson’s withdrawal from the leadership campaign prompted stock markets to improve the pound’s parity and cut government bond yields, which are still higher than before Truss’s appearance. One of the reasons for the negative reaction of the capital markets was their mistrust of the management of public finances by a government that wanted to borrow more to reverse Sunak-designed tax increases.
The appointment of a cabinet encompassing the currents and personalities of the party is his imminent task and it is not an easy one. In a message to the Committee of 1922, which organized the election, the winner announced that the party is united on ‘Brexit’ because it is already a fact. His economic ideas are of classical liberalism, but he showed pragmatism with the massive government spending to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. His tax hike caused dissent and the events of the past few days have proven him right.
He has pledged to maintain the government’s firm support for Ukraine, but not to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP, as Truss promised and Secretary Ben Wallace demanded. He has already met with Hunt to analyze the Treasury’s financial situation and budget lines, which the minister said will require “difficult decisions”. It is an indication of increased taxes and reduced spending.
He has two years to show that the UK has turned the tide by weathering a “deep economic crisis”, as he put it in a short public statement. He stressed that his main goal is to unite the country. The guarantee he offers is that of a politician who is described by his employees at the Ministry of Economic Affairs as extremely labour-intensive.
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
