Rishi Sunak will be the UK's next Prime Minister, it has been confirmed.
The former Chancellor will take the keys to Number 10 after his rival Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the leadership race, leaving Sunak as the only contender to succeed outgoing PM Liz Truss. Sunak lost the race to Downing Street against Truss just two months ago, but has now won enough support from Conservative MPs to become Prime Minister.
Commons Leader Mordaunt dropped out of the race after struggling to gain the 100 MP nominations required by today's 2pm deadline. The news comes after former PM Boris Johnson made a surprise exit from the leadership contest yesterday.
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Johnson insisted that he had secured the 100 nominations he needed, but said in a statement that returning as Prime Minister would "simply not be the right thing to do". He added: "You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament."
In a statement announcing her withdrawal from the race, Penny Mordaunt wrote: "This decision is an historic one and shows, once again the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support."
She added: "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."
Sunak, 42, will be the UK's first Hindu Prime Minister, as well as the first of Asian heritage, and the youngest for more than 200 years. He now faces the task of picking up where his predecessor left off after six weeks in Number 10.
Liz Truss resigned from her position last Tuesday, becoming the shortest-serving Prime Minister in the UK's history with just 45 days in Number 10. Her resignation came in the wake of former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-Budget which plunged the country into further economic crisis.
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