Rishi Sunak Becomes UK's First PM of Colour and Announces Cabinet
Rishi Sunak at No. 10 Downing Street, London. Photo Courtesy: BBC
Rishi Sunak emerged victorious in the expedited Conservative Party leadership race held to replace former Prime Minister Liz Truss. At 42-years-old, Sunak is son of Indian Punjabi parents who were raised in East Africa before emigrating to the UK. Sunak is the first person of color and practising Hindu to hold the office of PM in British history.
The four-day leadership race was triggered after Truss announced her resignation on October 20th. Truss faced mounting pressure to step down after announcing, and then U-turning on, a widely disliked ‘mini-budget.’
The unfunded mini-budget would have scrapped the planned increase in the corporate tax rate, eliminated the top income tax bracket, and reversed the 1.25% rise in National Insurance among many other provisions. Financial markets reacted negatively to the announcement and the Bank of England was forced to spend £65 Billion buying government bonds to stave off a pension crisis.
Sunak and Truss faced off just six weeks earlier in the last Conservative Party leadership race held to replace former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. During an August 4th leadership debate, Sunak expressed concern about Truss’ economic plans predicting “If we just put fuel on the fire of this inflation spiral, all of us, all of you, are just going to end up with higher mortgage rates, savings and pensions that are eaten away, and misery for millions.”
After Truss’ resignation, Sunak and Leader of the Common Penny Mordaunt quickly emerged as the top contenders to replace her. Johnson was also reported to have thrown his hat in the ring, cutting his holiday in the Dominican Republic short to return to London. Under the party's rules, in order to be on the ballot a candidate must have the backing of at least 100 MP’s. Sunak quickly reached the threshold. On Saturday October 22nd, Johnson’s allies claimed that he had also surpassed 100, but only 62 had publicly announced their support.
The next day Johnson unexpectedly announced that he would not be standing in the leadership race, saying he “hoped that we could come together in the national interest.”
Mordaunt, with only 27 public endorsements, did not meet the threshold of 100 backers by the deadline of 2pm on Monday October 24th. With no other candidate surpassing 100 supporters, Rishi Sunak ran unopposed and was automatically elected leader of the Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister of the UK.
Sunak is the youngest Prime Minister the UK has seen in over 200 years. He is also the richest ever, with a net worth of over £730 Million. Most of his wealth can be attributed to his marriage to Indian tech heiress Akshata Murty. Her father, N. R. Narayana Murthy, is the founder of Infosys and has amassed a net worth of roughly £3.9 Billion.
Sunak’s Cabinet and Changes at Number 10
Sunak wasted no time replacing Liz Truss’ cabinet appointees with his own. Here are some of the most prominent members of his new cabinet.
Dominic Raab was given two positions, justice secretary and deputy prime minister, the former of which he held under Boris Johnson.
Jeremy Hunt, brought in by Liz Truss to replace Kwasi Kwarteng, will remain as Chancellor of the Exchequer and has announced that the October 31st fiscal statement will be delayed until November 17th. The move will give the new Prime Minister an opportunity to review the statement in further detail and align his priorities with the Chancellor’s.
The resignation of Home Secretary Suella Braverman played a role in forcing Truss’ resignation. Sunak announced that she would be returning to the same position, leading many to wonder if his government will continue to pursue the Rwanda Scheme.
Many members of Truss' cabinet, including her close ally and former Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey, remain in place.