BREAKING: Rishi Sunak set to become UK’s next Prime Minister

Picture Courtesy: AP

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak will be the United Kingdom’s next prime minister after seeing off his lone remaining rival, Penny Mordaunt, on Monday. 42 years old Sunak will become the first person of color to lead the UK, and the youngest to do so in more than 200 years.

This comes after Liz Truss quit as prime minister, becoming Britain’s shortest-serving leader ever following a disastrous term. He will become the third person to lead the country in seven weeks, and the fifth since 2016. Sunak will face immediate calls for a general election from opposition parties, who will demand he seeks his own mandate in order to govern with any authority.

Rishi Sunak is also the youngest person to take the office in more than 200 years. Sunak was first elected as an MP in 2015 and spent two years on the backbenches, during which Brexit dominated the political agenda. Sunak supported leaving the EU during the 2016 referendum.

He has remained tight-lipped on his policy plan in the last few days, but he was widely seen as the more moderate of the two candidates in the last leadership contest over the summer. Compared to Liz Truss, he took a softer line on matters like Brexit and the economy.