Conservative Nottinghamshire MPs have been congratulating Rishi Sunak after the former Chancellor was confirmed as the next Prime Minister. Mr Sunak ended up as the only candidate left in the Conservative Party's latest leadership race, after the last remaining rival withdrew.
The race was triggered by the resignation of Liz Truss after 44 days in office, a period which began with the national period of mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and which ended with the chaotic fall-out from the mini-budget. Dozens of MPs, chief among them the Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, said that the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson should re-enter Downing Street.
But Mr Johnson confirmed on Sunday (October 23) that he would not be taking part in the contest. He claimed that he had enough support to reach the threshold of 100 MPs needed to progress to the next stage of the contest but that he had withdrawn because Penny Mordaunt and Mr Sunak said they wouldn't work with him.
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That meant that Ms Mordaunt and Mr Sunak were the only candidates left ahead of a 2pm deadline on Monday (October 24), by which each candidate needed support from 100 MPs to continue. If both candidates achieved this, the contest would have been decided by members of the Conservative Party in an online poll concluded by Friday.
But minutes before the 2pm deadline, Ms Mordaunt said she had withdrawn from the contest. She said she had done this because the country needed certainty "today".
Ms Truss is still officially the Prime Minister until she tenders her resignation to the monarch. There are reports that King Charles III is returning to London on Monday evening so that this process can take place, meaning that Mr Sunak can then officially become the UK's third Prime Minister of the year.
Despite the end of the leadership contest, opposition parties are still calling for a general election, with the next one not currently due to take place until 2024. But Conservative MPs say that the party now needs to focus on delivering for the country.
Rushcliffe's Ruth Edwards, Newark's Robert Jenrick, Sherwood's Mark Spencer and Gedling's Tom Randall all publicly backed Mr Sunak in the leadership contest. Mansfield MP Ben Bradley initially backed Mr Johnson and, after he withdrew, Mr Bradley said he was unlikely to publicly confirm his next choice.
Ashfield MP Lee Anderson is currently the only Nottinghamshire MP to have publicly declared in favour of Ms Mordaunt. Bassetlaw's Mr Clarke-Smith has not yet confirmed his choice, after originally backing Boris Johnson, whilst the position of Broxtowe's Darren Henry is not known.
Mr Bradley tweeted his congratulations to Rishi Sunak by saying: "Congratulations to Rishi Sunak - Britain's next Prime Minister. He can be assured of my full support and I hope he can bring stability to Government in difficult times."
Mr Jenrick said: "Congratulations Rishi Sunak. I couldn't be prouder of my friend today. He's won the overwhelming support of the parliamentary party. There are huge challenges ahead, but I have every faith that with him at the helm, the country will succeed."
Confirming why he supported Mr Sunak, Mark Spencer said: "Over the course of this past summer, I was firmly of the belief that Rishi was, and is, the leader that can unite our party, bring the whole country together and win us that fifth general election victory and my opinion has not faltered.
"In serious times like these, we need a person to step up to the plate who has a proven track record of being in the room when the tough decisions have been made, and I am in no doubt that Rishi is that person. He is a man of good character and great integrity, and I have seen first-hand during my time served with him in the cabinet that he has the ability to steer us through the unprecedented global challenges we now face."
When sharing his endorsement of Ms Mordaunt, Mr Anderson suggested earlier in the day that he would be uncomfortable with Conservative Party members not having a say on the next leader. He said: "Members are the lifeblood of any political party. They pay their membership, deliver leaflets, raise funds and do all the hard graft with little reward. It's only right they have a say in who their leader is."
The first Conservative leadership race of the year was triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson in July. Mr Sunak and Ms Truss emerged as the final two candidates in that contest, and Mr Sunak has been absent from front-line politics since he lost that race.
People in Nottingham had mixed reactions to the news of Mr Sunak's victory. Natalie Richards, 35, who lives in the city centre, said: "I don't think he'll do a good job and I don't think he has our interest at heart.
"I personally think there should be a general election again. It needs to be done tactically not automatically. We could be left with a horrible person as Prime Minister because of this automatic process of picking someone from the party."
Alberto Lanero, 43, added: "I don't agree with him and I think there should be a general election after any Prime Minister steps down, instead of just an automatic chosen person from the party. I think there should have been a general election after Boris Johnson."
But confirming why he supported Mr Sunak, Gedling MP Mr Randall added: "I want to see firm, effective Tory government that manages the economy in the national interest. I said over the summer that Rishi Sunak is a serious candidate for serious times with the experience to meet the challenges we face. That view holds today."
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