LONDON: Former UK finance minister Rishi Sunak on Monday thanked supporters who backed him in the Conservative Party race and said now it was time for all of them to unite behind the new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss.
“Thank you to everyone who voted for me in this campaign. I’ve said throughout that the Conservatives are one family. It’s right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times,” Sunak tweeted.
Truss was announced as the new head of the Conservative Party today. Forty-seven-year-old Truss will become the third female prime minister of the UK.

She defeated former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak through a postal ballot of all Conservative members. Truss secured 81,326 votes while Sunak got 60,399 votes.
“I am honoured to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party. Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country. I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy, and unleash the United Kingdom’s potential,” Truss wrote on Twitter.
The Tory leadership race was triggered after Boris Johnson was forced to step down on July 7 following a series of resignations of cabinet members, who protested against his scandal-plagued leadership.
Sunak and Truss rose to the Conservative ranks to end up as finalists for the contest for the post of UK Prime Minister.
During nearly a dozen hustings and after a six-week long head-to-head competition, Truss and Sunak had explained their long-term visions for Britain. Both contenders went through bouts of 12 nationwide events with the first bout in Leeds, Northern England.
Truss indicated that she will strongly push back against “identity politics of the left” as she has envisioned the legislation for single-sex spaces such as domestic violence shelters. Sunak batted for cutting VAT to revive the country’s economic situation.
The Roadmap 2030 for India-UK future relations was launched during a virtual summit between the two countries in May last year. This Roadmap is for revitalised and dynamic connections between people, re-energised trade, investment and technological collaboration.
During her India visit this year, Truss expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved so far concerning Roadmap 2030 and agreed to further intensify efforts to deliver results in priority areas of trade and investments, defence, and migration.
Both sides appreciated the substantial progress made in the India-UK FTA negotiations with two productive rounds completed since its launch in January 2022.