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Sunak gets backing of over 100 MPs to enter PM race

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak leaves the Prime Minister Boris Johnson weekly Cabinet Meeting inside No10 Downing Street on his way to deliver his 2021 Budget to the House of Commons. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Rishi Sunak, who fell to Liz Truss in the last leadership contest, got the backing of at least 100 Conservative Party lawmakers to enter the UK PM race.

Conservative British politician of Indian descent Rishi Sunak is quick off the mark to bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party and the British Prime Ministership having secured more than a hundred nominations – which is the minimum requirement to contest for the post.

Sunak, late Friday became the first Tory leadership contender to reach the 100-nomination threshold to run for party leader following the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss, reported Independent citing campaign sources.

Sunak, who fell to Truss in the last leadership contest, got the backing of at least 100 Conservative Party lawmakers to enter the UK PM race. This is a key development after Liz Truss’ resignation as UK Prime Minister on Thursday which threw the country into political turmoil and left it scrambling for a stable government, as the opposition reiterated its demand for a general election.

Former UK PM Boris Johnson had also expressed his will to enter the PM race saying he is “up for it.” On Friday, Penny Mordaunt, the Tory leader in the House of Commons too threw her hat in the ring. “I’ve been encouraged by support from colleagues who want a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest,” Mordaunt tweeted.

After Sunak reached the 100 nomination mark Conservative MP for Bournemouth East tweeted, “The free mkt experiment is over – it’s been a low point in our Party’s great history. The reset begins. Time for centrist, stable, fiscally responsible Government offering credible domestic & international leadership. Honoured to be the 100th Tory MP to support #Ready4Rishi.”

File photo shows Boris Johnson hosting the Prime Ministers Business Council alongside Rishi Sunak and leading business figures in 10 Downing Street. Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street

Former Health secretary Matt Hancock also confirmed his support for Sunak. He tweeted, “I have worked incredibly closely with Boris, Rishi & Penny in Government. I admire all three. With the challenges we face today: economic crisis & the need to restore authoritative leadership, Rishi Sunak is the best person to lead our country. I’m voting Rishi & hope you do too.”

Meanwhile, Tory MP Nigel Mills said it was a “mistake” for him not to back Sunak during the summer’s leadership contest. Mills tweeted, “A few weeks ago I changed my mind and didn’t back Rishi Sunak. I’m not making the same mistake again, he is clearly the prime minister we need to restore stability and tackle the many serious challenges facing the country.”

Tory MPs will vote on Monday, and two candidates will be put forward to the Tory membership unless one pulls out. The result will be announced on Friday, October 28.

It is pertinent to note that Truss became the shortest-serving British PM after she stepped down, stating that she recognises she “cannot deliver the mandate” on which she was elected. Truss said she would step aside for a new leader to be chosen within the next week.

“I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills, Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent and our country has been held back for too long by low economic growth,” she said in a statement.

“I recognize though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party,” she added.

Shortly after Truss’s resignation, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer issued a scathing statement that ripped into the Conservative Party and called for a general election.

“After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos. We need a general election now,” he said and added that “Each one of these crises was made in Downing Street but paid for by the British public. Each one has left our country weaker and worse off.”

“The British public deserves a proper say on the country’s future. They must have the chance to compare the Tories’ chaos with Labour’s plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future. We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now,” he added.

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks at the UK House of Commons. (UK Parliament_Jessica Taylor)

Truss stepped down a day after Indian-origin Home Secretary Suella Braverman tendered her resignation, citing “technical infringement of the rules” she committed while sending official documents.

In the letter addressed to PM Truss, she also expressed concerns about the direction of the government and said key pledges made to voters have been broken.

Braverman comes less than a week after UK Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng was fired after serving for less than six weeks. Kwarteng was sacked after the new government’s September 23 plan of massive tax cuts resulted in the plunging of British government bonds.

Earlier, Truss defeated former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak through a postal ballot of all Conservative members. Truss secured 81,326 votes while Sunak got 60,399 votes.

Sunak had thanked supporters who backed him in the Conservative Party race and said now it was time for all of them to unite behind the new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss.

The Tory leadership race was triggered after Boris Johnson was forced to step down on July 7 following a series of resignations of cabinet members, who protested against his scandal-plagued leadership. Sunak and Truss rose to the Conservative ranks to end up as finalists for the contest for the post of UK Prime Minister. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Is it back to Boris or Sunak?

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Truss vows to scrap all EU laws by next year

Liz Truss with members from Richmond Conservatives. (Photo: Twitter@trussliz)

Liz Truss said she will “seize the chance to diverge from outdated EU law and frameworks and capitalise on the opportunities.”

Amid the ongoing contest for the Tory leadership, top contender Liz Truss has promised to review all EU laws retained in the British statute book by the end of next year, and to scrap measures deemed to be holding back the City of London.

UK foreign secretary Truss, in a statement, vowed a “red tape bonfire” if she became prime minister, including reform of the Mifid II trading rules. She also promised to unleash the “full potential” of Britain post-Brexit.

 “EU regulations hinder our businesses and this has to change. In Downing Street, I will seize the chance to diverge from outdated EU law and frameworks and capitalise on the opportunities we have ahead of us,” she was quoted as saying by the Financial Times.

This comes as Truss along with former British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak emerged as the final two candidates in the country’s leadership race of the ruling Conservative party on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, International Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt was knocked out in the final round of ballot among Conservative lawmakers. Sunak won 137 votes and Truss 113.

The contest to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister will now go before the Conservative Party’s 200,000-odd dues-paying members, who will select the winner later this summer via mail-in ballot. The winner, to be announced on Sept. 5, will automatically become Johnson’s successor.

https://twitter.com/trussliz/status/1550442678994833410

Though Sunak has won each of the five rounds of voting by lawmakers, a YouGov poll published on Tuesday showed that he was less popular with the party’s grassroots. He is predicted to lose to Truss, a favourite of the party’s right-wing, in the head-to-head contest.

Both candidates have made pledges on tax cuts as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite. However, Sunak dismissed as “fairytales” his rivals’ promises of immediate tax cuts, arguing that inflation must be brought under control first.

Inflation in Britain rose by 9.4 per cent in June, hitting a fresh 40-year high, official statistics showed on Wednesday. Truss, on the other hand, promised to start cutting taxes from day one.

The Tory leadership race was triggered after Johnson was forced to step down on July 7 by an avalanche of resignations of government officials, who protested against his scandal-plagued leadership. Johnson continues to serve as caretaker prime minister until a new Tory leader succeeds him. (ANI)

ALSO READ: UK inflation hits fresh 40-year high

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Rishi Sunak launches bid to replace Boris Johnson

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on his way to brief members of the cabinet at the weekly Cabinet meeting inside No10 Downing Street, on the day the Chancellor delivers his summer statement to the House during the coronavirus. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Sunak shot from relative obscurity to fame when the just-ousted Prime Minister Boris Johnson fast-tracked him to the powerful post of Chancellor in 2020, a report by Ashis Ray

Indian-origin former Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British government Rishi Sunak on Friday formally launched his bid to become leader of the Conservative Party. If he succeeds, he will automatically become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

He tweeted: “I’m standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your prime minister.” He added: “Let’s restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country.” He also launched a website ready4rishi.com

Sunak posted along with the tweet a three-minute video setting out his intentions. He said: “I got into politics because I want everyone in this country to have those same opportunities, to be able to give their children a better future.”

He continued: “Our country faces huge challenges, the most serious for a generation. And the decisions we make today will decide whether the next generation of British people will also have the chance of a better future.”

Sunak shot from relative obscurity to fame when the just-ousted Prime Minister Boris Johnson fast-tracked him to the powerful post of Chancellor in 2020. He had been a Member of Parliament for less than five years. He became quite popular within months by providing financial support during the Covid pandemic, including furloughs to employees and soft loans to employers.

But the public liking for him was dented when this year he introduced taxes to reduce the government’s heavy borrowings. This was followed by controversy over his wife avoiding paying taxes in Britain and instead doing so at a lower rate in India from her dividends from shares in Infosys, the Bangalore-based software giant founded by her father N.R. Narayana Murthy. Sunak was then accused of retaining his Green Card in the US, where he had studied and worked.

It will not be surprising if his opponents in the upcoming competition cite his wife’s matter and the Green Card issue against him.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is joined by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak as they make their way up the staircase of No10 Downing Street to give a press conference on the Coronavirus. (Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street)

The son of a medical practitioner is, however, still one of the favourites in the contest, with probably Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, the current favourite.

Sunak resigned as chancellor on Tuesday, highlighting ideological and policy differences with Johnson. But also saying in his resignation letter that “the public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously”.

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Who will succeed Boris Johnson?

The |Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Number 10 for prime Minister's Questions. 10 Downing Street. Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street

Mordaunt is Minister of State for International Trade in the outgoing government. Her name has, though, been doing the rounds for some time. …writes Ashis Ray

Ben Wallace, who was the Secretary of State for Defence in underfire British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government and is still holding the portfolio as a caretaker, has emerged as a possible favourite in an opinion poll to succeed Johnson.

Bowing to the inevitable after mass resignations across his government, including that of top Cabinet ministers, Johnson on Thursday announced he is stepping down as leader of the Conservative Party, but will remain the UK Prime Minister till his replacement is chosen.

The BBC reported: “A YouGov poll of 716 Conservative party members placed Ben Wallace just ahead of Penny Mordaunt, who was followed by Rishi Sunak.”

The sample was small and therefore the response is not entirely reliable. At the same time, the findings are not unexpected.

Wallace did his prospects no harm in handling the situation arising out of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mordaunt is Minister of State for International Trade in the outgoing government. Her name has, though, been doing the rounds for some time. She is said to have support among a section of the rank and file as well as Members of Parliament.

Sunak, who is of Indian origin, was in surveys earlier in the year being touted as a front-runner for the PM’s post.

But after he introduced taxes to reduce the borrowings caused by bailing out lives and livelihoods during the Covid-19 pandemic, his popularity was dented. A controversy over his Indian wife’s tax affairs further damaged his reputation. There is no certainty that he will put himself up for the test.

The YouGov poll put Wallace’s support at 13 per cent, Mordaunt’s at 12 per cent and Sunak’s at 10 per cent. They are followed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss at 8 per cent; Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab at 7 per cent; Tom Tugendhat, Chair of the House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee, at 6 per cent; Jeremy Hunt, former Foreign and Health Secretary who lost the leadership contest to Johnson three years ago, at 6 per cent; Nadhim Zahawi, who took over as Chancellor of Exchequer after Sunak’s resignation and is of Kurdish background, at 5 per cent; former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who is of Pakistani descent, at 4 per cent; Priti Patel, who is of East African Indian extraction, at 3 per cent; and Steve Barclay, who was Johnson’s Chief of Staff, at 1 per cent.

Twelve per cent of the respondents said ‘None of the above’, while 9 per cent reacted by saying ‘Don’t know’.

Interestingly, Suella Fernandes Braverman, who is also of Indian heritage and had announced she would throw her hat into the ring on BBC Radio, did not elicit any support.

The intentions of others were until Thursday afternoon not officially known. However, Truss, who was in Indonesia attending the G20 foreign ministers’ conference, decided to cut short her participation and rush back to, reportedly, organise her campaign.

Under Conservative Party rules, a candidate needs the support of at least eight fellow MPs to contest. If there are more than two candidates, the Conservative parliamentary party holds elimination votes until just two runners remains. At that point, a ballot among the entire Conservative Party membership decides the winner.

ALSO READ: Finally Boris quits, will be PM till October

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It would be disgusting to see Boris ‘naked’: Putin

As they sat down for talks amid tensions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Johnson jested that G7 leaders could take their clothes off to “show that we’re tougher than Putin”….reports Asian Lite News

Vladimir Putin has hit back at western leaders who mocked his athletic exploits, saying it would be ‘disgusting’ if Britain’s Boris Johnson tried to emulate his topless appearances in front of the camera, media reports said.

Speaking during a visit to Turkmenistan, the Russian President also taunted his advisories over their ‘lack of machismo’ — when asked about western leaders joking about him at the G7 summit on Sunday.

As they sat down for talks amid tensions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Johnson jested that G7 leaders could take their clothes off to “show that we’re tougher than Putin”.

“Jackets on? Jackets off? Shall we take our clothes off�?” the British leader said while bantering with the other leaders.

“We all have to show that we’re tougher than Putin,” he said, Daily Mail reported.

Canadian premier Justin Trudeau joked that the Western leaders should emulate the Kremlin leader’s naked torso pictures with a “bare-chested horseback riding display”.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen replied: “Oh yes. Horseback riding is the best.”

Putin, 69, hit back during the summit, body shaming his foes and telling reporters: “I don’t know exactly how far they wanted to get undressed, above or below the waist. But I think, either way, it would be a disgusting sight.”

He claimed that, unlike him, the Western leaders abused alcohol and did not do sports to keep in shape.

Putin, who claims to be a martial arts black-belt and fitness fanatic, said: “Recall Pushkin�who said: ‘One might be all about business, yet still take care of the beauty of one’s nails.’ I certainly agree with that.”

ALSO READ: Boris urges NATO allies to boost military spending

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LAME DUCK PM

The result of the confidence vote means Johnson secured the backing of 59% of his lawmakers, lower than the support given to his predecessor Theresa May in a confidence vote she faced in 2018…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a confidence vote on Monday but a rebellion by 148 of his 359 Conservative Party lawmakers dealt a serious blow to his authority.

A majority of the Conservatives’ lawmakers – at least 180 – would have had to vote against Johnson for him to be removed.

The result means Johnson secured the backing of 59% of his lawmakers, lower than the support given to his predecessor Theresa May in a confidence vote she faced in 2018.

Having scored a sweeping election victory in 2019, the prime minister has been under mounting pressure after he and staff held alcohol-fuelled parties in his Downing Street office and residence when Britain was under strict Covid-19 lockdowns.

Such is the anger that the party triggered a challenge, forcing an anonymous vote of confidence in a leader who had once seemed unassailable.

The move led to lawmakers from different wings of the party revealing that they had turned against their leader. One former ally accused the prime minister of insulting both the electorate and the party by staying in power.

“You have presided over a culture of casual law-breaking at 10 Downing Street in relation to Covid,” Jesse Norman, a former junior minister, said before the vote.

Johnson’s anti-corruption chief John Penrose also quit.

Dozens of Conservative lawmakers have voiced concern that Johnson, 57, could be losing his authority to govern Britain, which is facing the risk of recession, rising fuel and food prices and strike-inflicted travel chaos in the capital London.

But his cabinet of leading ministers rallied around him and highlighted what they said were the successes of the government: a quick rollout of Covid-19 vaccinations and Britain’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I think it’s an extremely good, positive, conclusive, decisive result which enables us to move on, to unite and to focus on delivery and that is exactly what we are going to do,” said Johnson shortly after the result was out.

“What this means tonight is that we can focus on what we’re doing to help people on the cost of living, with what we are doing to keep streets and communities safer,” he said.

“It gives us the chance to unite, strengthen and level up our economy. What we are going to do now is to take the opportunity to unite and deliver,” he added.

Despite Johnson’s survival in the vote, his political rivals took a shot at the turmoil within the Conservative Party as the 148 votes against him meant more than 40 percent of the Conservative lawmakers wanted him to go.

“The choice is clearer than ever before. Divided Tories propping up Boris Johnson with no plan to tackle the issues you are facing. Or a united Labour Party with a plan to fix the cost of living crisis and restore trust in politics. Labour will get Britain back on track,” tweeted Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “Whilst Boris Johnson has clung on today – make no mistake, his reputation is in tatters and his authority is now totally shot.”

“Every Conservative MP who cares about integrity and decency must do the right thing, resign the whip and sit as an independent. For the sake of our country, this failing Prime Minister cannot be propped up any longer,” he said.

ALSO READ-Boris Survives Trust Vote

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UK MP quits, admits to watching porn in Parliament

UK MP quits, admits to watching porn in Parliament

The Conservatives suspended Neil Parish on Friday after he reported himself to parliament’s standards commissioner…reports Asian Lite News

A British lawmaker who had been suspended from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party said on Saturday he had resigned after admitting he twice viewed pornography on his phone in the House of Commons “in a moment of madness.”

The Conservatives suspended Neil Parish on Friday after he reported himself to parliament’s standards commissioner.

Parish resigned on Saturday, having previously said he would continue as a member of parliament while an investigation was carried out.

“In the end I could see that the furore and the damage I was causing my family and my constituency association, it just wasn’t worth carrying on,” a tearful Parish told the BBC in an interview on Saturday.

Parish, a farmer, said the first time he had viewed the explicit material he had stumbled across it by accident when looking for tractors on a website with a similar name, and had then “watched it for a bit which I shouldn’t have done”.

“But my crime, most biggest crime is that on another occasion I went in a second time and that was deliberate. That was sitting waiting to vote on the side of the chamber.” Asked what had been going through his mind, he described it as “a moment of madness”.

Earlier this week British media had reported that a female minister said she had seen a male colleague viewing pornographic material while sitting beside her in the Commons chamber and the same lawmaker watching pornography during a committee hearing.

“I was not proud of what I was doing,” Parish said, adding that he had not intended those around him would see it.

ALSO READ: Putin plans ‘all-out war’ on Ukraine ‘within days’

“I am not going to defend what I did. What I did was absolutely, totally wrong … I think I must have taken complete leave of my senses.”

In an interview with The Times newspaper published before his resignation, Parish’s wife said she was not aware of her husband having done anything similar before and that her husband was “a lovely person”.

“It was all very embarrassing,” the newspaper quoted Sue Parish as saying. “My breath was taken away, frankly.”

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Boris looking forward to working with Shehbaz

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson views a static display of cross agency aircraft and then gives speech on small boats and immigration. Lydd Airport. Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street

British PM wrote a letter to PM Sharif, noting that the UK and Pakistan enjoyed deep ties supported by strong people-to-people links….reports Asian Lite News

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulated the new Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and said that he is looking forward to continuing to work on global challenges.

According to the statement issued by the Ministry, “PM Johnson looked forward to continuing working together including in addressing global challenges.”

“He also recalled their meeting in 2016 during his visit to Pakistan and the discussions held on a number of shared interests including girls’ education, health, economics and trade relations,” the statement issued by the Ministry read, Geo TV reported.

Shehbaz: Imran Khan sold Toshakhana gifts in Dubai

According to the Spokesperson of Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, the British PM wrote a letter to PM Sharif, noting that the UK and Pakistan enjoyed deep ties supported by strong people-to-people links.

Citing the letter, the spokesperson said that PM Johnson conveyed best wishes to PM Shehbaz and the people of Pakistan on the 75th anniversary and hoped to meet PM Sharif in person soon.

Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif took oath as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan on April 11 evening hours after being elected by the National Assembly of the country.

Prime Minister-elect Shehbaz Sharif was administered the oath by the Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani after President Arif Alvi fell ill. (ANI)

ALSO READ: ‘Over half of US howitzers are in Ukraine’

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Another political storm hits Boris

Boris Johnson contacted Rayner on Sunday to convey that he considered claims about her misogynistic…reports Ashis Ray

 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “basic instinct” is under a scanner as a new, full-blown sexism controversy enveloped the United Kingdoms parliament.

A sensational piece in the right-wing Mail on Sunday newspaper headlined: “Tories (Conservative party members) accuse Angela Rayner (Deputy Leader of the Opposition Labour party) of Basic Instinct ploy to distract Boris” – a reference to the steamy 1992 film starring Sharon Stone. It further captioned: “MPs claim Labour deputy leader likes to put PM ‘off his stride’ by crossing and uncrossing her legs at PMQs (prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons)”.

The paper quoted a spokesman for Rayner, 41, as saying the suggestion was “categorically untrue”. She does wear short skirts while sitting on the front bench next to the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer during PMQs, but this is generally considered in the western world today as smart rather than sexy dressing.

Johnson contacted Rayner on Sunday to convey that he considered claims about her misogynistic. Referring to the newspaper article, he tweeted: “As much as I disagree with Angela Rayner on almost every political issue, I respect her as a parliamentarian and deplore the misogyny directed at her anonymously today.”

On Monday, The Guardian daily reported: “Johnson is also understood to have written directly to Rayner. The contents of the letter have not been shared, except for one quote reported by the Telegraph (a pro-Johnson broadsheet) that stated: ‘The comments were not in my name’.”

On BBC Radio, the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “I am sick and tired of the way that female MPs and women are treated in parliament.” She described the incident as an “outrageous slur on Angela”.

Pic credits Twitter

Thereafter appearing on the TV programme BBC Breakfast, she added: “She (Rayner)doesn’t need to use her sex to win an argument or put the Prime Minister off, or whatever was suggested in that article. She does it by the strength of her argument.”

Chris Philip, Technology Minister in Johnson’s government, told Sky News he expected government whips would investigate who had made the comments, and if their identity emerged he would “imagine they would be subject to discipline”.

Glen Owen, political editor of Mail on Sunday, who wrote the story is facing questions over whether his Lobby pass should be withdrawn, the Press Gazette claimed. The UK’s Independent Press Standards Organisation is said to have received 5,500 complaints within 24 hours about the article, which penned: “All is fair in love, war and Commons duels with Boris Johnson, if the claims of Tory MPs are to be believed.”

ALSO READ: Boris’ Indian trip in vain? 

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Boris Johnson in India

Boris Johnson visits Sabarmati Ashram Pic credits Pallav Paliwal

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who landed on Thursday, visited Sabarmati Ashram. Johnson landed in Gujarat earlier today for his two-day India visit. He was accorded a grand welcome at the airport in Ahmedabad and received by Gujarat CM Bhupendra Bhai Patel at Airport. This is the first time a UK Prime Minister is in Gujarat, India’s fifth-largest state and the ancestral home of around half of the British-Indian population in the UK.

ALSO READ: Boris Johnson visits Sabarmati Ashram