SUNAK LEADS RACE TO BECOME NEXT PM OF UK

Mon 24 October 2022:

Rishi Sunak leads the race to replace Liz Truss as Conservative Party leader and looks set to become the United Kingdom’s new prime minister.

Rishi Sunak, 42, was born in Southampton to Indian parents who came to the UK from East Africa. His father was a doctor and his mother owned a chemist shop.

Following Truss’ resignation after the economic turmoil her government inflicted, Sunak has renewed his leadership bit. He is one of the two candidates, along with Penny Mordaunt, after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson pulled out of the race Sunday.

Mordaunt has 90 nominations, campaign source says

The Reuters news agency has quoted an unnamed member of Mordaunt’s campaign as saying that she has gathered 90 endorsements from Conservative MPs as the deadline for nominations nears.

The 49-year-old, the current Leader of the House of Commons, has received public backing from fewer than 30 MPs so far. Candidates require at least 100 nominations from Conservative MPs by 2pm local time (13:00 GMT) on Monday to run in the election.

Sunak has support of more than half of parliamentary party: Conservative MP

Mark Harper, a Conservative MP, says he understands more than half of the 357-member strong parliamentary party is supporting Sunak’s bid to become its next leader.

“This is a very good sign and a vote of confidence, effectively, from his colleagues,” Harper told Al Jazeera.

“But he is taking nothing for granted – he has been talking to colleagues all morning and continues to do so to encourage them to … support him in his campaign to be prime minister,” he added.

Senior Conservative politician calls on Mordaunt to concede defeat

A senior Conservative member of the unelected House of Lords – the UK parliament’s upper chamber – has called on Mordaunt to pull out of the leadership race, saying it is “perfectly obvious” Sunak has more support.

“The last thing we need is for us to have an extended period when markets are unsettled and when, quite frankly, the Conservative Party is looking ridiculous – both at home and abroad,” Michael Forsyth, whose title in the Lords is Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, told BBC news.

Political chaos tips British firms into deeper slide: Survey

British businesses are suffering their worst month since January 2021, when they were under a COVID-19 lockdown, as the country’s political upheavals compound concerns about inflation and rising interest rates, a new survey has revealed.

The S&P Global/CIPS flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed a contraction in activity for a third month in a row, sinking to a 21-month low point and signalling the UK’s economy could be on course for a potentially deep recession.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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