The former UK Treasury Secretary announces his bid to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has announced he is stepping down.
Former UK Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak has announced he will replace Boris Johnson three days after he helped start the cascade of resignations that brought down the prime minister.
Johnson announced on Thursday that he would step down as prime minister after a mass rebellion in his Conservative Party sparked by the latest in a series of scandals that have fatally eroded public confidence.
Johnson’s imminent departure has added political uncertainty to an already difficult mix of rising inflation, slowing growth and industrial unrest amid the war in Ukraine and the UK’s ongoing struggle to adjust to life after Brexit.
“Somebody has to grab this moment and make the right decisions. Therefore, I will be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your prime minister,” Sunak said in a video posted to Twitter.
I will be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your Prime Minister.
Let’s restore confidence, rebuild the economy and reunite the country. #Ready4Rishi
Sign up 👉 https://t.co/KKucZTV7N1 pic.twitter.com/LldqjLRSgF
— Ready for Rishi (@RishiSunak) July 8, 2022
“Let’s face this moment with honesty, seriousness and determination, or tell ourselves comforting fairy tales that might make us feel better now but make our children feel worse tomorrow,” he said.
Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid walked out of the cabinet within minutes on Tuesday, setting in motion a chain of events that led to Johnson’s decision to resign.
The rules and timeline for the contest to replace Johnson are set to be finalized by a party committee next week.
Sunak’s budget last year put the UK on track for its heaviest tax burden since the 1950s, which critics say undermined his claim to advocate lower taxes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sunak oversaw around £400 billion ($481 billion) of economic support to avoid a big spike in unemployment but keep public borrowing rising to a peacetime record high in the face of an historic collapse in GDP.
Sunak’s popularity with conservative lawmakers was later hurt after he raised income taxes in April to fund higher health and welfare spending and announced plans for a drastic corporate tax hike in 2023.
Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat and Attorney General Suella Braverman have also officially announced their candidacy.
Former Health and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who lost to Johnson in 2019, is “virtually certain” to run again, a source close to Hunt has told British media.
Johnson fights back
Meanwhile, Johnson continued to resist calls to step down immediately and hand power to his deputy Dominic Raab.
Johnson’s spokesman said Raab’s takeover of the caretaker was out of the question.
“The Prime Minister is acting in accordance with convention. He will remain prime minister until a new party leader is in place, and the government’s work will continue during that time,” he told reporters.
Labor Deputy Leader Angela Rayner has said the main opposition party wants to trigger a vote of no confidence in Parliament if the Conservatives don’t get rid of Johnson immediately.
“He’s a proven liar who’s covered in dirt and we can’t have that for a few more months,” she said in an interview with BBC Radio.
“If they don’t, we’re going to call a vote of no confidence because it’s pretty clear he doesn’t have the confidence of the House of Representatives [of Commons] or the British public.”