Tag: UK Prime Minister

  • UK Prime Minister, Sunak Vows to Fix Truss’ Mistakes

    UK Prime Minister, Sunak Vows to Fix Truss’ Mistakes

    Britain’s new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on Tuesday pledged to “fix the mistakes” made by the Truss government and restore the country’s economic stability.

    He, however, warned that there would be “difficult decisions to come.” He added that “right now, our country is facing a profound economic crisis.”

    Sunak, in his first address to the nation outside 10 Downing Street, said he officially became the prime minister moments ago after King Charles III met him at Buckingham Palace and invited him to form a government.

    Sunak said Liz Truss was not wrong to want to improve growth, which was a “noble aim,” but “mistakes were made.”

    Truss’s attempt of using debt-funded tax cuts to spur economic growth plunged the British pound to a 37-year low against the U.S. dollar, while pushing up the cost of government borrowing and mortgage rates.

    According to Sunak, he was elected the prime minister to “fix” those mistakes.

    “I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. This will mean difficult decisions to come,” he said.

    Sunak, 42, inherits an economy on the brink of recession, with an energy crisis, cost-of-living crisis and runaway inflation that defy any easy fix.

    The prime minister also said he would deliver on the party’s manifesto, including a stronger National Health Service (NHS), better schools, safer streets, leveling up and building an economy that embraced the opportunities of Brexit.

  • 5 Things to Know About The First Indian UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak

    5 Things to Know About The First Indian UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak

    Rishi Sunak on Monday became the new prime minister of UK and the country’s first leader of colour, capping a stunning reversal in fortunes just weeks after failing in his first attempt to lead the ruling Tories.

    Sunak, who is set to be UK’s first Indian prime minister won the support of an overwhelming majority of the Conservative Party MPs and became the first non-white PM, enabling him to claim the keys to No 10 (the official residence of the UK PM).

    He emerged as the PM following the resignation of former PM, Liz Truss last Thursday.

    Here are five things you need to know about Sunak:

    • Sunak was born on 12th May, 1980 in Southampton, England to Indian parents – Yashvir and Usha Sunak who migrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s.
    • He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford (2001) and had a Master’s in Business Administration at Stanford University, USA (2006).
    • In August 2009, Sunak married Akshata Murthy, the daughter of the Indian billionaire N.R Narayana Murthy, the founder of a technology company, Infosys.
    • Sunak introduced a programme which provided £330 billion in emergency support for businesses as a furlough scheme for employees on March 17, 2020.
    • Also, Rishi Sunak was the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) from February 13 2020 – July 5 2022 under Boris Johnson’s government.
  • BREAKING: Rishi Sunak Set To Becomes UK Prime Minister

    BREAKING: Rishi Sunak Set To Becomes UK Prime Minister

    British politician Rishi Sunak was Monday elected Conservative leader and will become the next prime minister after rival Penny Mordaunt failed to secure the necessary 100 nominations from her fellow MPs.

    “Rishi Sunak is therefore elected as leader of the Conservative party,” senior backbencher Graham Brady said, as Mordaunt vowed her “full support” for the former finance minister.

    Sunak was to make his first remarks at 2:30 pm (1330 GMT), according to Brady, whose 1922 committee of Tory MPs organised a rapid leadership election following last week’s resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss.

    Former leader Boris Johnson pulled out of the race late Sunday, leaving a straight fight between Sunak and Mordaunt.

    “These are unprecedented times. Despite the compressed timetable for the leadership contest, it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today,” Mordaunt said in a statement.

    “They have taken this decision in good faith for the good of the country.”

    The Tories retain a majority in parliament, meaning that as their leader, Sunak will be named prime minister by King Charles III.

  • New UK Prime Minister To Be Announced On September 5

    New UK Prime Minister To Be Announced On September 5

    The new UK prime minister to replace the outgoing Boris Johnson will be announced on September 5, the ruling Conservative party said Monday, with 11 hopefuls currently vying for the job.

    The leadership contest was triggered last week when Johnson, 58, was forced to step down after a frenzy of more than 50 resignations from his government, in opposition to his scandal-hit premiership.

    The influential 1922 Committee of non-ministerial Tory MPs in parliament on Monday outlined a timetable for the party’s leadership election.

    Nominations will officially open and close on Tuesday, with a new prime minister set to be installed when parliament returns from the summer break on September 5, Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee, told reporters.

    Tory MPs will whittle the current list down to a final two through a series of ballots, with the worst-performing candidate eliminated after each round, before party members choose the winner.

    With calls for Johnson to leave Downing Street as soon as possible — and to avoid the process dragging into MPs’ summer holidays — the numbers are likely to be pared down quickly to just two.

    The joint-executive secretary of the 1922 Committee, Bob Blackman, said they were committed to doing that before parliament breaks for the summer on July 21.

    The first ballot will be held on Wednesday, with a second ballot likely on Thursday, said Brady.

    In a bid to speed up the process, candidates must have at least 20 MPs backing them in order to enter the race, up from the usual eight, and any candidate who fails to get the support of 30 MPs in the first ballot will be eliminated.

    Among those running are Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, whose departures as finance minister and health minister sparked the wave of resignations.

    Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Sunak’s successor Nadhim Zahawi have also declared, and Home Secretary Priti Patel is reportedly mulling a bid.

    But a poll of grassroots members by the influential ConservativeHome website released on Monday showed strong support for less high-profile candidates, with former defence minister Penny Mordaunt holding a narrow lead from arch-conservative Kemi Badenoch.

    Brexit figurehead Johnson dramatically announced his departure as party leader last Thursday but is staying on in Downing Street until a replacement is found.

    Javid said that with Britain facing a soaring cost-of-living crisis, energy price hikes and the war in Ukraine, there was a need more than ever for “competence” in the country’s leaders.

    “I’ve every hope that this campaign can and will be the turning point that we need,” he said at a campaign launch.

    Fall from grace
    On a visit to a science research institute in London, Johnson was asked directly if he would endorse any of the candidates, six of whom are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

    “The job of the prime minister at this stage is to let the party decide, let them get on with it, and to continue delivering on the projects that we were elected to deliver,” he said.

    Johnson’s fall from grace has been spectacular. In December 2019 he won a landslide 80-seat victory on a promise to take Britain out of the European Union.

    His parliamentary majority allowed him to do just that but his premiership was hit by waves of scandal, not least about lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street that saw him fined by police.

    Another row blew up last week about his appointment of a senior colleague despite knowing of sexual assault allegations against him, sparking the government resignations.

    In his speech, he blamed the “herd” for moving against him, and his allies have been briefing angrily against Sunak.

    But Johnson refused to say Monday whether he felt betrayed.

    “I don’t want to say any more about all that,” he said.

    “There’s a contest under way and that has happened and you know, I wouldn’t want to damage any chances by offering my support.

    “I just have to get on and in the last few days or weeks… the constitutional function of the prime minister in this situation is to continue to discharge the mandate. And that’s what I’m doing,” he added.

    “The more we focus on the people who elect us… (and) the less we talk about politics at Westminster, the generally happier we will all be.”

    AFP

  • BREAKING: UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson To Resign

    BREAKING: UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson To Resign

    British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson will on Thursday resign as leader of the Conservative Party, but he will continue as Prime Minister until the autumn.

    A Conservative leadership race will take place this summer and a new Prime Minister will be in place in time for the Tory party conference in October.

    It is the third day of a steady stream of resignations from Boris Johnson’s government, with over 50 members gone.

    On Wednesday, the Prime Minister was on the brink after two of his senior ministers quit in protest at his scandal-hit leadership, piling on the pressure as he faced a grilling from angry MPs.

    The 58-year-old leader’s grip on power became more precarious within 10 short minutes on Tuesday night when Rishi Sunak resigned as finance minister and Sajid Javid quit as health secretary.

    Both said they could no longer tolerate the culture of scandal that has stalked Johnson for months, including lockdown lawbreaking in Downing Street that enraged the public who followed the rules.

    Sunak and Javid will now sit on the Conservative backbenches at the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions at 1100 GMT, which promises to be even more combustible than usual.

    Johnson then faces an hours-long grilling from the chairs of the House of Commons’ most powerful committees, who include some of his most virulent critics in the Tory ranks.

    The exits of Sunak and Javid came just minutes after Johnson apologised for appointing a senior Conservative, who quit his post last week after he was accused of drunkenly groping two men.

    Former education secretary Nadhim Zahawi was handed the finance brief. “You don’t go into this job to have an easy life,” Zahawi told Sky News on Wednesday.

    “Sometimes it’s easy to walk away but actually, it’s much tougher to deliver for the country.”

    Details shortly…