Rishi Sunak will be named Britain’s 57th Prime Minister later on Monday October 24, 2022 after rival Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the leadership race.
Mr Sunak won the support of an overwhelming majority of Tory MPs, enabling him to claim the keys to No10.
On the day of Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights – Mr Sunak will become Britain’s first PM of Indian heritage.
Ms Mordaunt dropped out of the contest at the last minute this afternoon after she failed to secure the support of 100 colleagues.
The ex-Chancellor took an early lead in the Tory leadership race, having lost the last one to Liz Truss just weeks ago.
Within hours of Ms Truss announcing her resignation last Thursday, MPs came out in droves to support Mr Sunak.
But his chances of moving to Downing Street were dramatically slashed when Boris Johnson informally launched a spectacular come back bid.
The ex-PM left his glamorous holiday in the Dominican Republic to fly back to London and shore up support.
Tory heavyweights split between two camps, with James Cleverly and Priti Patel going team Boris, and Grant Shapps and Kemi Badenoch waving the flag for Rishi.
Over the weekend Ms Mordaunt trailed behind the pair, with only around two dozen MPs backing her campaign.
On Sunday Mr Johnson made a late night exit from the race.
The former Prime Minster insisted he had the numbers to go to a vote of the Conservative membership.
But he threw in the towel as MPs broke for Mr Sunak at a rate of more than two to one.
