Indian- Origin Rishi Sunak Set to Take the Top Job of UK's PM

LONDON: Rishi Sunak is all set to be the next Prime Minister of the UK after the other top contender for the post, Penny Mordaunt, failed to secure the required numbers and dropped out of the race. Indian- origin Sunak has the support of 142 members of the parliament, exceeding the 100-mark required to bag the top job at 10, Downing Street.

Sunak was declared the next leader of Britain's Conservative Party by the chief of the 1922 Committee of Conservative lawmakers on Monday. This placed him on the course to be the country's next prime minister. The committee is tasked with selecting and changing the Conservative party's leader.

"I want to fix our economy, unite our party and deliver for our country," former chancellor Rishi Sunak said in a short statement. At age 42, he will be the youngest and the first non- white person to hold the post.

The other candidate, former PM Boris Johnson, who entered the race again last week after cutting short a Caribbean holiday, ended his bid for the post yesterday in a surprise decision. He stated his inability to to lead "a united party in parliament".

Rishi Sunak is the third Prime Minister UK had in seven months. Liz Truss, who had earlier pipped him to the post in the party's internal election and succeeded Boris Johnson, quit after only 45 days in office, on October 20.

Sunak, as the next Prime Minister of UK, is tasked to steer the economically floundering nation days after his predecessor Liz Truss stepped down.

This is Sunak's second shot at being the Prime Minister. The former U.K. Treasury chief was runner-up to Liz Truss in the contest to replace the scandal-plagued Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and prime minister. But Truss had no choice but to quit after a turbulent 45-day term, and Johnson abandoned a comeback attempt at the last minute, leaving Sunak a strong favourite to finally assume the office he narrowly missed out on less than two months ago.

If he wins, Rishi Sunak will be Britain's first non-white leader and the first person of the Hindu religion to assume the job of the Prime Minister of the UK. At the age of 42, he will also be the youngest prime minister in more than 200 years. Sunak is regarded as a political prodigy whose youthful looks, sharp suits, smooth and confident manner led to him being dubbed "Dishy Rishi" by the British media.

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