Former Indian-origin chancellor Rishi Sunak is back in focus now and may make one of the most remarkable political comebacks in British politics, after Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned just after 45 days in office and becoming the country's shortest-ruling prime minister.
Speculators expect Sunak, who had contested the election for the prime minister's role against Truss, to take over the top job at 10 Downing Street. In fact, last week itself the Oddschecker bookies' odds aggregator showed Sunak was racing ahead as the favourite to replace Truss.
However, there is deep infighting within Tory ranks, and loyalists of former PM Boris Johnson think he should be brought back.
Penny Mordaunt, who was a contender in Britain's previous leadership contest this year, is also believed to be in the running, Sky News reported.
Liz Truss resigned today, bringing to an end intense speculations about her future amid economic chaos brought about by her policies. Truss was eventually undone by her economic programme that sent shockwaves through the markets and divided her Conservative Party just six weeks after she was appointed.
A YouGov poll of Tory members found recently that Sunak would beat Truss if the Conservative Party leadership election is held now. Fifty five percent would now vote for Sunak if they were able to vote again, while just 25 per cent would vote for Truss.
"With the ongoing political chaos at Westminster dominating headlines, a new YouGov Political Research snap poll of Conservative party members finds significant buyer's remorse among the party membership surrounding their September decision to elect Liz Truss leader," the YouGov analysis said.
Truss' brief and chaotic time at the top saw her announce a massive package of unfunded tax cuts, most of which had to be later unwinded following a market rout.
Sunak on the other hand had warned against much of the financial meltdown that would follow unfunded tax-cutting policies.There will be a leadership election next week. Until then, Truss will stay on as prime minister.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has also called for a general election. "We don’t need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis. We need a General Election now and the Conservatives out of power," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment