FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has congratulated Rishi Sunak after he won the latest Tory leadership and challenged him to call a General Election.
The former chancellor won the contest unopposed after competitor Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the race just minutes before the announcement was made.
According to a source within her team, Mordaunt was around 10 votes short of the 100 endorsement threshold set down by the 1922 backbench committee of Tory MPs.
And now, while Sunak addressed his party’s MPs behind closed doors at a private meeting, Scotland’s FM congratulated him on social media.
She wrote: “Congratulations to @RishiSunak - I wish him well and, notwithstanding our political differences, will do my best to build a constructive working relationship with him in the interests of those we serve.
“That he becomes the first British Asian to become PM is a genuinely significant moment. It certainly makes this a special #Diwali.
“As for the politics, I’d suggest one immediate decision he should take and one he certainly should not.
“He should call an early General Election. And he should not - must not - unleash another round of austerity. Our public services will not withstand that.
“For Scotland, of course, he becomes another PM we did not and, without doubt, would not vote for even if given the chance.
1/ Congratulations to @RishiSunak - I wish him well and, notwithstanding our political differences, will do my best to build a constructive working relationship with him in the interests of those we serve.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 24, 2022
To escape the damage of Westminster governments with no mandate here, and take our future into our own hands, Scotland needs independence.”
The FM had initially written that Sunak was the first prime minister from "any minority ethnic background" before hastily deleting the tweet to remove the reference.
Benjamin Disraeli, who was first appointed Tory PM in 1868 by Queen Victoria, was of Jewish heritage.
Meanwhile, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross called for the country to unite after Sunak became Conservative leader and soon-to-be prime minister as the pressure for a general election grows.
Ross had remained quiet on the leadership contest as he had in the race over the summer which saw Liz Truss take over in No 10.
In a statement released in the minutes after Sunak’s win became public, Ross said: “Recent weeks have been difficult and unsettling for both the Conservative Party and, more importantly, the country.
“Now all our focus must be on bringing the nation together and navigating the tough economic conditions we face.”
