GranthamEngland, July 23 – Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak, one of the two remaining candidates for Britain’s next prime minister, described himself on Saturday as the underdog in the race.
Sunak’s resignation helped spark a revolution that led to Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreeing to resign after a series of scandals. Members of the ruling Conservative Party will vote for his successor over the summer, with an announcement to be made on 5 September.
Sunak led all rounds of voting among Tory MPs to narrow the race to two candidates.
But Secretary of State Liz Truss appears to have the upper hand so far among the 200,000 ruling party members who will ultimately choose the winner.
Truss leads Sunak by 24 points in a YouGov poll of Conservative Party members released on Thursday.
“Make no mistake, I’m not the favourite,” Sunak said in a speech in Grantham, central England, the hometown of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Truss will be the third prime minister of Great Britain after Thatcher and Theresa May, while Sunak will be the country’s first leader of Indian descent.
“The forces that want this to be the culmination of the other candidate, but I think the members want elections and are ready to listen,” he said.
So far, the spotlight has been on promises of tax cuts or not, at a time when many people are struggling, along with defense spending and energy policy.
In his speech, Sunak promised careful management of the economy before tax cuts. He criticized Truss’ arbitrary promise to increase defense spending to 3% of Gross domestic product in 2030.
In an interview with The Times on Saturday, Sunak said he would put the government in crisis when he takes office.
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