liztruss

Rishi Sunak is the United Kingdom’s newest prime minister making history as the first person of color to hold the position in a race triggered by the dramatic resignation of Liz Truss.

Rishi Sunak won the ruling Conservative Party’s leadership contest on Monday and is poised to steer the government after Truss’ disastrous mini-budget plunged the markets into chaos. He must now unite the Tory party which seems to be in disarray ahead of the next general election. 

• He becomes UK’s 5th PM in six years.
• He is Hindu, born in South England to Indian parents.
• At 42 years old, he is the youngest prime minister in 200 years.
• He was believed to be one of the richest parliamentarians. 
• Sunak was chancellor in 2020 and was responsible for steering the UK economy at the beginning of the pandemic and its lockdowns.
• In April, he and former PM Boris Johnson were fined for attending parties during lockdowns.
• He was also embroiled in a scandal when his multi-millionaire wife was accused of avoiding tax by claiming ‘non-domicile status’ which permitted her to save millions of pounds in tax on dividends collected from her family’s IT business empire.

Newly appointed British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned her position following an economic plan many described as disastrous.

Truss spent only a month and half in office following her official appointment by Queen Elizabeth II on September 6.

Key points

• Her new mini budget plunged the British pound. Though she reversed it and appointed a new chancellor, she faced opposition within her party and the economic market as UK grapples with inflation.
• She is now the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.
• She will remain on as PM until the Conservative Party selects a new party leader next week.
• She served under former PMs Theresa May and Boris Johnson in various capacities. After Johnson resigned, she was the favourite to replace him.

Queen Elizabeth II, 96, died on Thursday at Balmoral Castle. Buckingham Palace said she “died peacefully.”

“The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

She was surrounded by family including Charles who is now king, since her death.

The 73-year-old has waited decades for the position. He is the oldest of four children born to the queen and her late husband, Prince Philip.

He became Britain’s heir at the age of 3 when his mother took the throne at age 25.

On Friday at 10 a.m, Charles will be proclaimed officially’ king’ then he will meet with UK Prime Minister Liz Truss and other government officials.

Two days after this, he will tour the United Kingdom and hold services. He will be known as King Charles III.

King Charles issued a statement after his mother’s death, saying “it is a moment of great sadness for me and all members of the family.”

Liz Truss will be the next Prime Minister of Britain after beating Rishi Sunak for the leadership position of the Conservative party.

In her acceptance speech, Truss vowed to press ahead with promised tax cuts and to tackle the rising cost of energy and living.

The big picture

Truss, a close friend of Boris Johnson, is succeeding him after he announced his resignation in July after months of scandals, support for his administration dwindled and many resignations within the party.

Why it matters

Truss was the foreign minister in Johnson’s cabinet and was one of the favorites to win against finance minister Rishi Sunak. She received 81,326 votes while Sunak garnered 60,399 votes.

Truss takes over as Britian faces a high cost of living, industrial unrest, and war in Europe, where Britain has been a strong supporter of Ukraine.

She promised to deliver a great victory for her party in 2024.

What she says

“I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. I will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply.”

What’s next

Johnson will meet with Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday to officially tender his resignation. Truss too will meet with the queen and will be asked by the monarch to form a government.

Johnson said on Twitter, “I know she has the right plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, unite our party and continue the great work of uniting and leveling up our country. Now is the time for all Conservatives to get behind her 100 percent.”