‘Anyone but Rishi’, says Boris Johnson to his allies in the party. Johnson, who found himself in a mess of scandals during his time as the UK’s Prime Minister, was forced to resign. He isn’t keen on making Sunak the next PM.
Feeling ‘betrayed’ by his former chancellor of the exchequer, Johnson blames Sunak for his downfall. Further convinced of a plot against his leadership by Sunak for months, sources say Johnson told the MPs that he shouldn’t be the next PM of the UK.
Even though his public refusal of support to any candidate, sources close to Johnson say, he ‘appeared most keen’ on foreign secretary Liz Truss and junior trade minister Penny Mordaunt for the job.
“The whole No 10 (Downing Street) team hates Rishi. It’s personal. It’s vitriolic. They don’t blame Saj (Sajid Javid) for bringing him down. They blame Rishi. They think he was planning this for months,” said sources.
Who is Rishi Sunak?
Rishi Sunak, the son-in-law of Infosys founder NR Narayan Murthy, is a clear winner of the first two rounds of voting by Tory members of Parliament. Sunak, with his remaining opponents, will now appear in televised debates.
He made history when appointed as the Chancellor of the Exchequer- the most important UK Cabinet post in 2020. The minister gained further popularity for his financial aid to businesses and employees. A move that prevented massive unemployment in the country during the pandemic.
In March, he came under massive scrutiny over his multi-millionaire wife, Akshata Murthy’s links to Infosys. Her non-domiciled status in the UK and the ‘partygate‘ scandal took a toll on his popularity.
Boris Johnson, amongst his minister and aides, breached the Covid rules by organising parties during lockdown at government offices. The London Police even fined Sunak.
The ‘partygate’ scandal proved to be the fall of Johnson’s political career, founding himself in a puddle of resignations soon after.
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