LONDON – Former finance minister Rishi Sunak completed a political comeback Monday, when he was selected prime minister by Britain’s ruling Conservative Party, just seven weeks after he was beaten to office by Liz Truss.
Sunak, 42, officially became prime minister on Tuesday after meeting with King Charles at Buckingham Palace, where he received symbolic permission to take up the role during a ceremony known as the “kissing of the hands.”
Sunak is the fifth British prime minister in six years, the third in less than two months. He is Britain’s first leader of South Asian descent, its first Hindu prime minister, and the nation’s first leader of color. He is the youngest prime minister of modern times.
He won an internal party contest to be the country’s new leader following Truss’ Oct. 20 resignation. Her tenure was the shortest ever for a British prime minister and was marked by economic turmoil. British voters elect a party, not a specific leader, meaning the ruling party has latitude to change a prime minister without calling an election. Sunak won the party contest after his challenger Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the race.
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Britain’s economic turmoil
He takes over as Britain faces exceptionally challenging economic times.
Forecasts suggest its economy has already fallen into recession and the country is being hit with some of the highest energy and borrowing costs in Europe, the…
