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[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Rishi Sunak, a British former Chancellor of the Exchequer of Indian immigrant descent, will become the first non-white and youngest person to serve as Prime Minister on the 24th (local time).
On the day of the deadline for candidate registration for the election of the leader of the UK Conservative Party and the next Prime Minister, Penny Mordaunt, the House Leader, declared she would not run, making former Chancellor Sunak the sole candidate. Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, which oversees the Conservative Party election, announced Sunak's victory in Parliament, stating that only one candidate had come forward.
Sunak's victory became likely after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the previous night that he would not seek to return to the premiership. Mordaunt revealed that she failed to secure the required 100 supporting MPs just before the 2 p.m. candidate registration deadline.
Prime Minister-designate Sunak will formally take office after an audience with King Charles III in the near future.
Sunak will become the UK's first non-white Prime Minister and will assume office at the age of 44, younger than former Prime Ministers David Cameron and Tony Blair at their inaugurations. He is the youngest Prime Minister in 210 years of history.
Coming from an Indian immigrant family, he is also the UK's first Hindu Prime Minister. His wife is the daughter of the founder of Infosys, a major Indian IT corporation.
Sunak is an elite 'silver spoon' financier. He graduated from a prestigious private school, studied PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) at Oxford University, and earned an MBA from Stanford University in the United States. After working in finance as a Goldman Sachs analyst, he entered politics by being elected as a Member of Parliament in 2015.
He supported Brexit (the UK's withdrawal from the EU), held his first government post in Theresa May's cabinet, and was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in Boris Johnson's cabinet in February 2020.
Sunak must first address the aftermath left by Prime Minister Liz Truss. Truss shocked the financial markets with the largest tax cut package in 50 years, then reversed it, causing confusion and ultimately resigning with the dishonor of being the shortest-serving Prime Minister. Sunak will need to organize the budget and medium-term fiscal outlook scheduled for October 31.
The financial market's response has been favorable so far. As Sunak's victory became likely, government bond yields fell and the pound sterling rose.
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