Following the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss last week, Rishi Sunak is set to assume the role, becoming Britain’s third leader in just seven chaotic weeks.
Sunak’s rival Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the Conservative leadership race Monday afternoon. “We all owe it to the country, to each other and to Rishi to unite.”
Sunak is the third prime minister to hold the office since September as the Conservative Party has struggled to find a capable leader.
After serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 until 2022, Sunak challenged Truss in a vote of the part’s members last summer but was defeated. Soon after taking office, Truss announced plans for a significant tax cut, prompting instability in the financial markets that eventually led to her political downfall.
Truss was the shortest-ever sitting prime minister breaking the previous record-holder, George Canning’s 119 day record handily.
There were rumors that recently ousted prime minister Boris Johnson was looking to make a comeback in the vacuum created by Truss’s resignation last week, but Johnson pulled out of the race on Sunday, clearing a path for Sunak. As the only challenger left standing, Sunak will not be subjected to a membership vote.
Sunak enters office with the U.K. facing serious economic challenges, most notably persistently high inflation and energy-market instability brought on in part by the conflict in Ukraine. His party is also in a weakened position after the fall of Johnson and Truss, trailing the Labor Party in the polls as voters begin to clamor for a general election.