Tuesday’s developments are a stunning turnaround for the man whose resignation as finance minister was instrumental in bringing down Boris Johnson’s government earlier this year, but then lost the summer leadership race. At that point, it appeared Sunak’s ambitions for the highest political role in the country were over.
And yet, when Truss’ premiership imploded last week, Sunak quickly became a frontrunner to take over the party once more. Now in the top job, he faces an overflowing in-tray of challenges to steer the country out of crisis.
His own party is divided and has lost ground to the opposition Labour party in opinion polls following four months of political mayhem and financial market chaos. At the same time, Britain is facing a major economic crisis, with many economists believing it is already in recession.
He is already under intense fire from opposition politicians, who are calling for a general election.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer congratulated Sunak on becoming the first British-Asian prime minister on Tuesday but reiterated calls for a public vote.
“The Tories have crashed the economy, with low wages, high prices and a cost of living crisis. The public needs a fresh start and a say on Britain’s future,” Starmer said.
Sunak, like Truss, has not had to win a general election to become prime minister because the Conservatives are still the largest party in the House of Commons, therefore their leader automatically becomes prime minister.
It’s not unusual for a prime minister to come into office without an election – four of the last five British prime ministers first entered the role without a general election. But the fact that Sunak is the UK’s third prime minister since the last poll in 2019 and the second to come into power without a public vote adds to the pressure.
According to the law, the next general election must happen no later than January 2025. With Labour way ahead in opinion polls, it is very unlikely he will take that step.
Sunak is under no obligation to call a vote and appeared to rule out the possibility in his Downing Street address when he said that he’d “always be grateful to Boris Johnson for his incredible achievements.”
He added: “I know he would agree that the mandate my party earned in 2019 is not the sole property of any one individual. It is a mandate that belongs to and unites all of us.”
Johnson later offered his congratulations to the new prime minister in a post on Twitter, calling his appointment a “historic day.”
“This is the moment for every Conservative to give our new PM their full and wholehearted support,” Johnson said.
