RISHI SUNAK BIDS TO REPLACE JOHNSON AS PM

Fri 08 July 2022:

Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak stated on Friday that he would run to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, after Johnson indicated the previous day that he would step down, Reuters reports.

“Someone has to grip this moment and make the right decisions. That’s why I’m standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your prime minister,” Sunak said in a campaign video released on Twitter.

I’m standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your Prime Minister.

Let’s restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country. #Ready4Rishi

Sign up 👉 https://t.co/KKucZTV7N1 pic.twitter.com/LldqjLRSgF

— Ready For Rishi (@RishiSunak) July 8, 2022

Sunak abruptly left his position as finance minister on Tuesday, one of two resignations that started a series of events that resulted in Johnson’s resignation.

A party committee is expected to announce the guidelines and schedule for the election to replace Johnson the next week.

Not transparent

Sunak is an early favourite to replace Boris Johnson. but experts say Sunak has not been transparent with his finances and that his hedge fund background raises questions about his commitment to fighting tax avoidance.

While an established presence in UK politics, Sunak, 42, has only been an MP since 2015, a minister since 2018 and was chancellor for a little over two years.

His public profile soared during the Covid pandemic thanks to his largesse with billions of pounds of public money via the furlough scheme, and an approach to press conferences that often appeared more empathic than Johnson’s.

He has, however, experienced controversy over his wealth and tax affairs. With a significant fortune of his own thanks to a pre-politics job in the hedge fund world, his wife, Akshata Murty, is the daughter of the billionaire founder of Infosys and owns a 0.93% stake, worth about £690m, in the tech firm.

In April it emerged that Murty claimed non-domicile status, allowing her to save millions of pounds in tax on dividends collected from Infosys, which totalled £11.6m in the last tax year.

After that revelation it emerged that Sunak had held a US green card, meaning he declared himself a “permanent US resident” for tax purposes for 19 months while he was chancellor and for six years as an MP.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent