Sunak, a former member of Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, is set to become the U.K.’s next prime minister after rival Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the race just minutes before the deadline.
Just six weeks ago, Sunak had lost out against Liz Truss in the running for prime minister. But after several economic disasters that caused the pound to collapse and an intervention from the Central Bank, Truss resigned. Truss had taken over from Johnson, who resigned amid ethics scandals. All are members of the Conservative Party.
Sunak, 42, is set to be Britain’s first nonwhite prime minister; his parents of Indian descent were both born in East Africa. He served as Johnson’s ex-chancellor of the Exchequer, or treasury chief.
His was a short campaign for the job. He declared on Sunday that he would be entering the contest, stating that he wanted to “fix our economy.” By Monday morning, Sunak had gained the support of 194 Conservatives.
However, only 25 politicians publicly backed Mordaunt.
Sunak’s win comes hours after Johnson withdrew from his attempt to regain the prime minister position, saying that although he had the support needed to advance to the vote, it wasn’t “the right thing to do.”
Sunak, whose resignation from Johnson’s Cabinet had delivered a major blow at the time, responded to his former boss’s withdrawal from the race by thanking him on Twitter. “Although he has decided not to run for PM again, I truly hope he continues to contribute to public life at home and abroad,” he added.
Mordaunt said that Johnson had put “country before party, and party before self.”
Since Thursday, Conservative members of Parliament have been nominating candidates to be the next leader of the party and so the prime minister. While Sunak won the 100 nominations in less than three days, Mordaunt had been trailing behind with 25 votes by Monday afternoon. Sunak is expected to be sworn in as prime minister by Friday.
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