Political leaders in Wirral reacted to the news that Rishi Sunak will be the UK’s new Prime Minister.
Mr Sunak will succeed Liz Truss after she resigned last week after only six weeks in office. The first Asian person to hold the position, Mr Sunak was publicly supported by more than 193 MPs.
He was the only candidate to reach the threshold of 100 MPs to go into the next round of the leadership contest after Penny Mourdant, Mr Sunak’s last competitor for the job, dropped out at the last minute paving the way for him to take on the role.
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He is now expected to be appointed by King Charles III as Prime Minister in the coming days.
Conservatives in Wirral highlighted today’s historic significance while Labour have honed in Mr Sunak’s comments in the summer that he stopped policies that "shoved all the funding into deprived urban areas.”
Some saw Mr Sunak as referring to places like Wirral which have received large sums of government money for regeneration projects in recent years.
Labour leader of Wirral Council Janette Williamson said: “In a cost of living crisis the last thing we need is the richest man ever to be Prime Minister, who has openly admitted to diverting money from areas like Wirral to wealthy Tory shires.”
Meanwhile, Cllr Tom Anderson welcomed the news, he said: “Once again the Conservative Party is leading the way. First we had Disraeli, then our first female Prime Minister and now Rishi Sunak will be the United Kingdom’s first Asian PM.
“As Chancellor, Rishi has supported Wirral with more than £180 million of levelling up funding to secure long term investment, regeneration and highly skilled jobs to benefit our residents.
“We should not forget, when he was Chancellor, Wirral Council also received more than £200 million in Covid funding to support our most vulnerable residents and that money is still being used today to support residents who are affected by the cost of living.”
Cllr Williamson said: “Voters here have had enough of being taken for granted by an out of touch Government. They won’t forget this at the next election.”
Cllr Williamson has repeatedly called for a general election since Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned arguing voters should have a say.
The change in leadership comes as Labour continues to lead in the polls nationally with a gap of 32% based on a Politico polling average.
This big gap could lead to the Conservatives losing every seat at the Wirral council elections in 2023 according to a lecturer who studies local election results in Merseyside.
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