LONDON —
British Conservative
Rishi Sunak on Sunday announced he is standing to be prime
minister, just weeks after failing in a first attempt — and setting up a
potentially bruising battle with his former boss Boris Johnson.
اضافة اعلان
Ex-finance
minister Sunak vowed “integrity, professionalism, and accountability” and to
lead Britain out of “profound economic crisis”, which experts say has been
worsened by the aborted policies of outgoing leader Liz Truss.
“I want to fix our
economy, unite our party and deliver for our country,” he said in a short
statement posted on Twitter confirming his widely expected candidacy.
The no-frills
announcement contrasted with his last failed bid to be Tory leader, when he
faced criticism for a slickly produced video launched just days after he had
helped depose ex-prime minister Johnson by resigning in July.
Sunak, 42, is the
second Conservative MP to declare a run at the top job, after cabinet member
Penny Mordaunt launched her campaign on Friday.
Johnson is
anticipated to enter the likely week-long contest, after he cut short a
Caribbean holiday to return to Britain Saturday and attempt an audacious
political comeback less than two months after leaving office.
The 58-year-old
is said to be intensely lobbying Conservative colleagues ahead of a Monday
afternoon deadline to secure the 100 nominations required to face a vote of the
Tories’ 357 MPs.
‘Secret summit’
Sunak has raced ahead in that count, crossing the minimum threshold
Friday and currently boasting the public backing of 146 Tory lawmakers,
according to a BBC tally.
That compares to
Johnson’s 57 and 23 for Mordaunt, though the ex-leader’s allies insist he has
secured the 100 nominations.
“Boris’s campaign
tells me that they have the numbers,” Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg told
the broadcaster. “Clearly, he is going to stand. There is a great deal of
support for him.”
The Tories have
been forced into a second, this time expedited, leadership contest since the
summer following Truss’s resignation after only 44 disastrous days into her
tenure over her calamitous tax-slashing minibudget.
If two candidates
remain after Conservative lawmakers vote Monday, the party’s approximately
170,000 members will make their choice, with the result announced Friday.
Johnson, who only
relinquished power in early September following a government revolt over a slew
of scandals, is still seen as the grassroots’ favorite.
Amid growing
calls for unity within the fractured ruling party, he and Sunak held talks late
into the night, reports said Sunday, as the feuding political heavyweights
battle behind the scenes.
Few details have
emerged about what The Sun dubbed a “secret summit”. The Sunday Times said it
lasted several hours “in the hope of burying the hatchet and thrashing out a
deal to govern together”.
However, Sunak’s
subsequent declaration suggests he is confident he can vanquish Johnson.
The main Labour
opposition, which has opened up huge poll leads, is demanding a general
election.
“The country needs to get
rid of this chaos,” its leader Keir Starmer said.
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