Rishi Sunak promises unity, stability after winning race to become next UK PM

Rishi Sunak has won the Conservative Party leadership race and is set to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom.

The development follows weeks of turmoil; Sunak will be the third British premier in two months after Boris Johnson and Liz Truss resigned.

As a Briton with Indian ancestry, Sunak will be the first person of colour and first Hindu to lead the country, according to Al-Jazeera.

In his first public remarks since winning the Conservative Party leadership race, Sunak has promised to serve as prime minister “with integrity and humility” while warning the country faces “a profound economic challenge”.

“I will work day in, day out to deliver for the British people,” he said in a brief statement delivered to fellow Tory MPs at the Conservative Party’s headquarters in London.

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

Sunak also paid tribute to outgoing British leader Liz Truss for her “dignified” leadership “under difficult circumstances abroad and at home”.

A former chancellor, Sunak challenged Truss in a recent party leadership race, but lost. This time around, his main opponent Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough Tory support and was forced to drop out.

The handover of power from Truss to Sunak will not take place on Monday, the Reuters news agency has quoted a spokesman for the current prime minister as saying.

“I can confirm that the transition won’t be taking place today,” the spokesman said.

He added that discussions between the outgoing and incoming prime ministers and King Charles III on the timing and choreography of the changeover were being held.