Contest to replace UK’s Boris Johnson begins, ‘someone has to grip this moment’, says top candidate
- Former finance minister Rishi Sunak announces he is standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and Britain’s prime minister
- Johnson quit as leader of the ruling Conservative Party on Thursday, after a frenzy of nearly 60 resignations, but says he’ll stay on until successor is found
Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday he was running to replace Boris Johnson after Johnson announced the previous day that he would stand down as prime minister.
“Someone has to grip this moment and make the right decisions. That’s why I’m standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your prime minister,” Sunak said in a campaign video released on Twitter.
Sunak quit as finance minister on Tuesday, one of two unexpected resignations that set in motion a chain of events that led to Johnson’s decision to step down.
The rules and timetable for the contest to replace Johnson are due to be set out next week by a party committee.
Sunak said in his resignation letter it had become clear that his approach to the economy had been too different to Johnson’s, as the two had tried to agree on the next steps for the country.
He continued on that theme in his candidacy announcement video.
