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Rishi Sunak will be Britain’s new leader – but how did we get here?

Picture 876348540 24/10/2022 at 17:36 Owner : Metro_co_uk Local Feed Marked as viewed Community folder: /Metro/Metro.co.uk/08. WP Export Rishi Sunak will be Britain?s new leader ? but how did we get here? getty/ PA
It’s been two months full of twists and turns (Picture: Getty/ PA)

Rishi Sunak will be Britain’s new prime minister, it was confirmed today.

Back in September, it seemed like the ex-chancellor’s bid for 10 Downing Street was over as he lost the leadership contest to rival Liz Truss.

But the past few months have seen an astonishing turn of events in British politics, leaving Mr Sunak to become the country’s third leader in seven weeks.

He will be the UK’s first Hindu prime minister and the first of Asian heritage.

At age 42, he will also be the youngest PM for more than 200 years.

Following yet another dramatic day in Westminster, some people will be wondering, how did we get here? Join Metro.co.uk as we take a look.

Rishi Sunak’s road to 10 Downing Street

Boris Johnson’s premiership was pushed to the edge as one scandal came after another.

This included Partygatethe Owen Paterson debacle and his controversial flat refurbishment.

The final nail in the coffin was when he confessed he knew about sexual misconduct claims surrounding MP Chris Pincher.

Astonishing political scenes followed, with more than 60 ministers resigning in protest against his leadership.

Mr Johnson finally resigned in July, before complaining ‘they changed the rules halfway through’ in his final speech on September 6.

Eight candidates were confirmed on 12 July, having gained the support of at least 20 other Conservative MPs.

They were Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi. Rehman Chishti, Sajid Javid and Grant Shapps withdrew.

Following ballots of Tory MPs, the final two candidates were serving Foreign Secretary Ms Truss and ex-Chancellor Mr Sunak.

The pair travelled across the country trying to sell themselves to Conservative Party members.

They also went head-to-head in 12 hustings, ripping into each other’s plan to tackle the cost of living crisis.

Ms Truss officially became Britain’s new prime minister on September 6 following a meeting with the Queen.

She won the leadership race by just 20,927 votes the previous day.

In a speech, she promised to govern ‘as a Conservative’, saying: ‘We will deliver, we will deliver and we will deliver.

‘And we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024.’

The new PM rewarded loyalists with top jobs in Cabinet – including Kwasi Kwarteng who became chancellor, Suella Braverman who was home secretary and James Cleverly, who took the job of foreign secretary.

Ms Truss promised to cut taxes and reboot a stalled economy and help people with soaring energy bills.

She tried to put her plan into action by working with Mr Kwarteng on a mini-budget that was unveiled on September 23.

The pair set out a package that included abolishing the top rate of income tax for the highest earners and axing the cap on bankers’ bonuses, while adding restrictions to the welfare system.

The government pledged an energy price guarantee that would limit bills for the average household to £2,500.

But the mini-budget was slammed for largely taking care of the rich and doing little to help people on lower incomes.

It sparked a market meltdown, with the pound tumbling to a fresh 37-year low as ‘spooked’ traders swallowed the cost of the spree.

The Bank of England stepped in with emergency support, but fresh turmoil was feared for pension funds when bosses refused to extend it.

Ms Truss insisted she was standing by her tax-cutting plan and refused to rule out public spending cuts.

One day later, she and Mr Kwarteng abandoned their plan to abolish the 45p rate of income tax for top earners.

But discontent across the country and among her own MPs rumbled on and Ms Truss sacked Mr Kwarteng after 38 days in his job on October 14.

He was replaced by Jeremy Hunt, who trashed almost all of his new boss’ tax measures – leaving people wondering ‘who’s in charge here?’

The new appointment was too little, too late for many MPs – some of whom began to publicly call for Ms Truss to go.

She apologised for her ‘mistakes’ and pledged to lead the Tories into the next general election on October 17.

Tory MPs gave Liz Truss a glimmer of hope as they voted against a Labour motion on fracking that was ‘seen as a confidence motion’ on October 19.

But yet another piece of Ms Truss’ government fell when Suella Braverman quit as home secretary on October 19.

She cited a ‘technical infringement’ of the ministerial rules and criticised Ms Truss’s ‘tumultuous’ premiership.

After more backbenchers publicly demanded the PM’s resignation, she fell on her sword on October 20.

In a brief speech, she told the country she recognised she ‘cannot deliver the mandate’ which Tory members gave her a little over six weeks before.

There was speculation Boris Johnson could be back in Downing Street as he tested the waters to see if he could get the 100 nominations required from MPs.

The former PM claimed he had the numbers but pulled out of the race, saying it ‘would simply not be the right thing to do’.

This left Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt battling it out.

Ms Mordaunt confirmed on October 24 that she had failed to get enough support – leaving Mr Sunak the only candidate, and therefore the country’s next prime minister.

He will be formally appointed in a handover of power overseen by King Charles within the coming days.

In a speech, that was criticised for being too short and robotic, he said he was ‘humbled and honoured’ to be chosen.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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