Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is set to succeed Liz Truss as British prime minister after being declared the next leader of the ruling Conservative Party on Monday.

The 42-year-old, who the BBC said will become Britain's first prime minister of Asian descent, won the party leadership after his sole rival, Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons, withdrew from the race.

Rishi Sunak. (Kyodo)

Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs financier of Indian ancestry, was the only candidate to reach the threshold of 100 nominations from Conservative members of parliament.

According to the BBC, Sunak was endorsed by over half of the 357 Conservative lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, while Mordaunt failed to reach the threshold before backing out.

Sunak's rise to power became increasingly evident over the weekend as senior figures in the party backed his vision for economic stability after the current prime minister's tax-cutting plans brought chaos to the bond and currency markets.

"The United Kingdom is a great country, but there is no doubt that we face a profound economic challenge," Sunak said in an address to his party colleagues Monday.

"We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together," he said.

Sunak has in the past taken a tough line on China after accusations that he was soft on Beijing.

He has said China represents the "biggest long-term threat to Britain" and has promised to ban China's Confucius Institute schools which some critics claim are pro-Beijing propaganda tools.

Sunak has also accused China of stealing the West's technology and has called for greater cyber defenses. He has also slammed China for "propping up" Russia during the Ukraine war.

Truss announced her resignation last Thursday, just over six weeks into the nation's top job, after a political crisis caused by her economic plans increasingly undermined her premiership and authority. She will be the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.

Truss became prime minister on Sept. 6 after beating Sunak in a leadership race caused by the resignation of Boris Johnson, who stepped down following a wave of resignations triggered by a series of scandals that cast his integrity into question.

In that race, Truss secured 57.4 percent of party member votes while Sunak received 42.6 percent.

Truss presided over plummeting approval ratings and polling for her party since her then finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng announced the government's minibudget fiscal plan on Sept. 23.

Johnson, who had indicated a bid to return as leader following Truss' resignation, pulled out of the leadership race Sunday.


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