Rishi Sunak could be elected Conservative Party leader and UK prime minister if it receives enough votes from lawmakers on Monday.
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LONDON – Former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak looks set to become the UK’s next prime minister, with votes to be counted on Monday afternoon.
Sunak could be confirmed as the next Conservative Party leader and UK prime minister as early as 2pm on Monday, by which point candidates need to have at least 100 nominations from Tory lawmakers to become the leader of the party.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is Sunak’s biggest competitor, but he dropped out of the race late Sunday.
The only candidate left for the leadership position is Penny Mordaunt, a former defense ministerwho was behind Sunak in the initial bid to take charge of the Conservative Party in September.
If both Sunak and Mordaunt have more than 100 supporters on Monday and neither decides to withdraw, members of the broader Conservative Party will vote for their new leader, who will then be announced. dad on Friday.
Sunak is said to have at least 150 public supporters, according to Sky Newswhile Mordaunt is said to have around 23, with 357 legislators eligible to vote.
It remains unclear how many pro-Johnson Conservative lawmakers will switch to backing Sunak or Mordaunt.
A new prime minister will be chosen after Liz Truss announces her resignation Thursday after just 44 days in the role. Pressure drove the short-term leader to quit after her new fiscal policies failed and caused market turmoil.
