The Conservative Party leadership election has been won by Rishi Sunak, who will now take office as UK Prime Minister.
The 42-year-old ex-chancellor of Boris Johnson’s university received the endorsement of his fellow lawmakers and will lead the party without a vote from the membership.
At the time of writing, it is unclear precisely when he will begin and replace Liz Truss.
At 2:30 pm on Monday, Sunak was scheduled to address the Tory MPs who have been at odds with one another recently.
Penny Mordaunt was the only other contender to officially launch their candidacy for prime minister, however she withdrew at the last minute, giving Sunak the victory.
In a statement on Twitter, Mordaunt penned: “Our party is our membership. Whether we are elected representatives, activists, fundraisers or supporters. We all have a stake in who our leader is.
“These are unprecedented times. Despite the compressed timetable for the leadership contest it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today. They have taken this decision in good faith for the good of the country.
“Members should know that this proposition has been fairly and thoroughly tested by the agreed 1922 process.
“As a result, we have now chosen our next Prime Minister. This decision is a historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support.
“I am proud of the campaign we ran and grateful to all those, across all sides of the party, who gave me their backing.
“We all owe it to the country, to each other and to Rishi to unite and work together for the good of the nation. There is much work to be done.”
Both Sunak and Mordaunt needed to secure the backing of 100 MPs, and while Sunak comfortably reached the required number, it is clear that Mordaunt only received 90 votes, falling just short.
Even while there were rumours that the former prime minister stated in private that he had enough support, Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest on Sunday.
With the announcement, Sunak, who lost to Liz Truss in the previous match in September, makes a dramatic comeback.
The first Hindu prime minister, Sunak is the youngest in contemporary history.
Tories are prepared to give Rishi Sunak the keys to No. 10 without him saying a single word about how he’d govern, according to Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, who made the statement earlier on Monday.
