UK's Rishi Sunak poised to become PM as Johnson exits race

British Conservative Rishi Sunak was on Monday poised to become prime minister and the countrys first leader of colour after a dramatic decision by Boris Johnson to abandon a political comeback bidJust weeks after he lost out to Liz Truss to lead the ruling Tories Sunak could pull off a stunning reversal in fortunes by winning the leadership as early as Monday afternoon following expremier Johnsons unexpected exit late SundayThe contest triggered by outgoing leader Trusss resignation on Thursday requires candidates to secure the support of at least 100 Conservative MPs by 200 pm 1300 GMT on MondaySunak a wealthy Hindu descendant of immigrants from India and East Africa had crossed that threshold by Friday night ahead of declaring his candidacy on Sunday and amassing nearly 200 public nominations from Tory lawmakersJohnsons withdrawal from the race before he had even formally announced his candidacy left cabinet member Penny Mordaunt the only other declared contenderAlso read Nigerian capital on alert after US UK security warningsBut Sunak supporters were quick Monday to stress that the former finance minister was not assuming he had the leadership in the bagHes speaking to colleagues this morning hes working very hard to attract those supporters who were perhaps with Boris Johnson previously said interior minister Grant ShappsMordaunt is expected to come under growing pressure to abandon her leadership bid and end the contest quickly as Britain grapples with multiple crisesIf the 49yearold resists and is able to garner 100 nominations the race will be decided by the partys roughly 170000 members in an online vote with the result announced on FridayFirst however the Tories 357 MPs would hold an indicative ballot from 330 pm to 530 pm on Monday to show members which candidate commands the most support within the fractious parliamentary partyJust two months ago the members selected Truss over Sunak who had more support among MPs Mordaunt is popular with the grassroots and supported TrussDire straitsThe Tories were forced into their second leadership contest since the summer due to Trusss resignation after only 44 days following the disastrous market response to her taxslashing minibudgetShe had replaced Johnson in early September following another government revolt over a slew of scandals most notably the Partygate controversy involving Covid lockdownbreaching partiesJohnsons attempt to make an immediate return to Downing Street had raised the prospect of months of disarray and disunity within the ruling ConservativesCritical backbench Tory MPs warned there could be a wave of resignations under Johnsons renewed leadership which might have led to the general election demanded by opposition parties One is not due for at least two yearsThe Brexit figurehead had cut short a Caribbean holiday to return to Britain on SaturdayBut in a sign of his diminished political standing he abruptly conceded late Sunday admitting you cant govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliamentI believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time Johnson said while insisting he had secured the 100 nominations needed to progressSunak was quick to pay tribute to Johnson tweeting I truly hope he continues to contribute to public life at home and abroadMordaunt added on Monday that Johnson had put country before selfUnifyingMordaunt appears intent on remaining in the now twoperson racePenny is the person best positioned to unify the party shes got support from all wings of the party said Conservative MP Damian Green on MondayThe leadership hopeful kept up a string of Twitter posts on Monday morningEven the former Labour Shadow Chancellor admits Im the candidate Labour fears most she wrote referring to the main opposition Labour PartyIn an article in the rightwing Daily Telegraph she also stressed her commitment to a lowertax high productivity economySunak kept a lower profile writing simply on his Twitter account that the country faced a profound economic crisisI want to fix our economy unite our party and deliver for our country he saidLabour which has opened up huge poll leads after Trusss government saw the Conservatives popularity plummet is demanding a general electionTory MPs are set to hand Rishi Sunak the keys to No 10 the prime ministers official residence without him saying a single word about how hed govern tweeted Angela Rayner deputy leader of the main opposition Labour PartyUnder the UK electoral system there is no requirement for a general election if the leader of the party in power changesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever