Indian Origin Rishi Sunak 4th in Conservative Poll
In a party member poll, Indian-origin Rishi Sunak was pushed to fourth place as the Conservative’s top choice to succeed Boris Johnson as UK Prime Minister, with wild card candidate Kemi Badenoch taking the lead. Former Treasury Secretary Sunak, the frontrunner among Conservative lawmakers, could suffer a setback.
The Conservative Home poll of 851 Conservative Party members, released on Saturday, gave Badenoch an 11-point lead, with 31% of members saying she should be the Conservative Party’s next leader. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss came in second with 20%, beating junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt. Mordaunt was third with 18 percent, Sunak fourth with 17 percent, nine votes behind Mordaunt, and Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat fifth.
This puts the Tory grassroots at odds with a sizable number of Conservative MPs, for whom Sunak is the clear frontrunner. Sunak received the support of 101 MPs in the second ballot and 88 votes in the first ballot, placing first in both. The third ballot will be cast on Monday.
After Tory MPs have narrowed the candidates down to the final two, it is up to party members to choose their next leader and future Prime Minister. There are now doubts about Sunak’s popularity among Conservative members, who appear to have taken a liking to Badenoch following a Channel 4 debate on Friday.
Badenoch, a former equalities minister, was born in London to Nigerian parents and spent her childhood in Lagos and the United States. She is regarded as the anti-woke candidate, appealing to the party’s right. In the week following Johnson’s resignation, she resigned as equalities minister along with dozens of others.
Former Conservative leader Sir Lain Duncan Smith, who is supporting foreign secretary Liz Truss in the election, blamed Sunak for Britain’s high inflation on Sunday. He told Sophie Ridge of Sky News: “Over a year ago, the Bank of England continued to print massive amounts of money, inflating the economy. The Treasury, not the chancellor, signed off on the money printing “He was referring to Sunak when he said this.
“This has fueled inflation. Rishi Sunak approved the extra cash that was printed “he said, before slamming Sunak for his unwillingness to lower taxes to help the UK’s cost of living crisis. Truss advocates for immediate tax cuts.”You will bring the UK economy into recession if you keep tax rates at their current levels, with more to come,” he said.
