Ahead of the UK election, a look at Rishi Sunak’s rise to prime minister

London:

The United Kingdom is preparing for a fierce election battle on the Fourth of July. The Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and the Labor Party, led by his rival Keir Starmer, are engaged in one of the most prominent electoral battles in the world.

In October 2022, Mr Sunak, 44, became Britain’s first Indian-origin prime minister and the youngest occupant of 10 Downing Street in 210 years. It came after the country had experienced major political turmoil, with the successive resignations of former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Ahead of this week’s crucial election, let’s revisit the moment Sunak came to power:

In 2015, Mr Sunak was elected Conservative MP for Richmond, Yorkshire. He has long campaigned to leave the economic bloc, and won his first ministerial post under Theresa May, as number three in the newly renamed Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government in 2018.

Burish later supported Johnson for prime minister.

UK elections 2019

The Conservative Party, led by Boris Johnson, emerged victorious in the 2019 election, winning 365 of the 650 seats. While Johnson remained prime minister, Sunak was rewarded with the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer under then-Chancellor Sajid Javid.

Later, when Javid resigned from his post due to a power struggle, Sunak was promoted to the position of Chancellor. This made Sunak the first Indian-origin minister to hold one of the highest positions in the UK government.

Sunak was praised during the coronavirus lockdown for his series of mini-budgets which introduced measures such as the furlough scheme which saved many jobs and businesses. He was even considered the favorite to succeed Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party.

Rishi Sunak x Liz Truss

In 2022, when Johnson announced his decision to resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following a mass revolt of ministers against his leadership, sparked by major scandals including Partygate, both Sunak and Truss began their bids to succeed Johnson.

Ultimately, Truss won the Conservative Party leadership race and became the new British Prime Minister. However, after six weeks of open rebellion, Truss was forced to resign.

Rishi Sunak becomes Prime Minister

Mr Sunak made history and became UK Prime Minister in October 2022 after Penny Mordaunt, the last remaining contender in the Conservative leadership race, withdrew from the race.

By then, Mr Sunak would have won the popular support of around 200 fellow Conservative MPs and succeeded Mr Truss as the UK’s new Prime Minister.