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Rishi Sunak chosen to be new UK prime minister

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

The new prime minister of the United Kingdom has been chosen.

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Former finance minister Rishi Sunak will succeed Liz Truss after Sunak’s final opponent, Penny Mordaunt, withdrew from the race, CNN reported.

Sunak will be the country’s third prime minister in seven weeks.

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Mordaunt said that “we all owe it to the country” to support Sunak after she was unable to secure the backing of 100 Conservative lawmakers needed to remain in the race, The Associated Press reported.

BBC News reported that Sunak was the frontrunner, gaining the 100 nominations he needed well before the deadline. He also had the support of backers from Truss and Boris Johnson.

Sunak campaigned earlier this summer before Truss won on the promise to help people combat the cost of living and eventually cut taxes, but only after the rising costs of products eased. He used that platform before Truss’ economic plan of cutting taxes and boosting the government’s borrowing hurt the economic outlook and plunged the U.K. into a recession, CNN reported.

Sunak is the first prime minister of Indian descent. His parents were originally from east Africa and both are of Indian origin, BBC News reported.

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Sunak is the youngest in 200 years at age 42, the first person of color and the first Hindu person to be prime minister, CNN reported.

He was first elected as an MP in 2015 and became finance minister, also called chancellor in 2020 under Johnson.

King Charles III will ask Sunak to form a government and will take over the position late Monday or Tuesday from Truss, the AP reported.

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Photos: Rishi Sunak becomes British PM after meeting with King Charles III British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak makes a statement after taking office outside No. 10 Downing St. on October 25, 2022, in London. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak: What you need to know Sunak succeeded Liz Truss as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Oct. 24. (NCD)

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