Sunak early frontrunner in race for new UK PM

London, July 9

Rishi Sunak, the British Indian former minister who has now formally launched his campaign to be elected the new Conservative Party leader and UK Prime Minister, emerged as an early frontrunner in the leadership race on Saturday.

The 42-year-old son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy has received the public backing of several senior Tory members of Parliament, including Commons leader Mark Spencer, former party chairman Oliver Dowden and former Cabinet minister Liam Fox.

The overriding view is that pro-Brexit Sunak is the candidate who can unite the divided governing party and is best placed to take on the huge economic challenges facing the UK as a former Chancellor. His position became even stronger as one of the Cabinet ministers, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, formally ruled himself out of the race.

“I ran the toughest department in government during the toughest times when we faced the nightmare of Covid,” said Sunak, in social media campaign launch video.

“Our country faces huge challenges… Someone has to make the right decisions,” reads his message on the campaign website. — PTI

4 in race already

• Nigerian-origin former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch (42) latest to declare her candidacy
• India-origin Suella Braverman was among the first to declare her intention to compete for the job
• Senior Conservative backbencher Tom Tugendhat too is vying for the PM’s post

Ran toughest dept

I ran the toughest department in government during the toughest times when we faced the nightmare of Covid. — Rishi Sunak