Former finance minister Rishi Sunak is set to become the UK’s next prime minister, after his only other challenger failed to get the backing of enough Conservative MPs.
There was a 15:00 CET deadline for candidates in the contest to replace Liz Truss to submit the names of a hundred Conservative politicians who were backing them.
In a short statement, Tory party official Sir Graham Brady said only one person had received enough support, making Sunak the winner.
His only other potential challenger, Penny Mordaunt, wrote on Twitter that Sunak had her “full support.”
“We all owe it to the country, to each other and to Rishi to unite and work together for the good of the nation.”
He will be Britain’s third prime minister in just seven weeks as he succeeds Truss.
The 42-year-old multi-millionaire will be the UK’s first PM from a British-Asian background, and the youngest leader in two centuries.
Former PM Truss congratulated Sunak, writing on Twitter that he had her “full support”, while Thersa May another recent UK leader said he would provide “the calm, competent, pragmatic leadership our country needs.”(BBC)