Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s third prime minister in less than two months. (File)
London:
Rishi Sunak will be Britain’s next prime minister after his rivals dropped out of the race, following one of the most tumultuous periods in British political history.
Here are the latest facts, comments and background:
Politics
* Rishi Sunak, 42-year-old former finance minister, will become Britain’s third prime minister in less than two months.
* His predecessor, Liz Truss, was demoted after just six weeks in office as her economic agenda rattled financial markets, pushed up the cost of living for voters and left many party members in power. she was indignant.
* Boris Johnson, who was ousted as prime minister by lawmakers in July, is aiming to make an unusual political comeback before dropping out of the race.
* Former Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt has also entered the race to become the country’s fifth prime minister in six years.
* Mr. Sunak, one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, will become prime minister when he is invited by King Charles to form a government.
* Former Goldman Sachs analyst, Rishi Sunak will be the UK’s first Indian-born prime minister.
* He was tasked with running the country through the economic crisis and angered some voters.
* A nationwide election does not need to be called in two years, but opposition parties argue that voters should now be told.
* The opposition Labor Party leads the government by more than 30 points in several opinion polls.
Market
* The pound rose rapidly on news that Rishi Sunak was the only candidate left, but soon returned to its former level.
* The 10-year UK government bond yield fell 22 basis points on the day at 3.83%.
* However, the medium-term outlook for sterling looks bleak.
“We could be a little less chaotic with Boris Johnson out but not like Rishi Sunak having a strong show showing horizons,” said John Hardy, head of FX strategy at Saxo Bank. bigger ahead for the UK economy as context remains the backdrop.” .
Economy
* UK shoppers cut spending sharply in September while public borrowing rose more than expected, underscoring the challenge facing Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
* Jeremy Hunt reiterated Friday that the government will do “whatever is necessary” to reduce debt in the medium term.
*Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics in London said: “The drop in gilt output as it was announced today that Rishi Sunak will become the UK’s next Prime Minister has dampened significant financial consolidation opportunities. Even so, the new Prime Minister will still have to work hard to restore stability in the eyes of financial markets.”
What is behind the crisis?
* Britain’s financial markets plunged into turmoil on September 23 after new Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng announced billions of pounds in tax cuts.
* The Bank of England is forced to buy emergency bonds to prevent a sharp sell-off in the UK’s $2.3 trillion government bond market that threatens to devastate the pensions industry and increase risks. recession risk.
* Mr Kwarteng’s replacement Jeremy Hunt on Monday scrapped “nearly all” of the economic plan and scaled back Truss’ vast energy assistance plan, announced in September, in one Turns back history to try to restore investor confidence.
* BoE interventions have highlighted a growing segment in the UK pensions sector – liability-based investing.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
