By Our Special Correspondent
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss won the Conservative Party leadership race on Monday, defeating Rishi Sunak to replace outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson - whose loyalties appeared to have gone against the Indian-origin former chancellor in a closer-than-expected result.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss won the Conservative Party leadership race on Monday, beating Rishi Sunak to replace outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson - a result whose loyalties appeared to go against the Indian-origin former chancellor in a closer-than-expected result.
Truss polled 81,326 votes compared to Sunak's 60,399 in an election with a high voter turnout of 82.6 per cent, with 654 rejected ballots from a total of 172,437 eligible Tory voters. It meant Truss won by a comfortable margin, but her victory was narrower than in other recent Tory leadership contests with 57.4 per cent, compared to Sunak's 42.6 per cent - reflecting divisions within the ruling party.
Sunak, 42, soon took to twitter to call for party unity: “Thank you to everyone who voted for me in this campaign. I have said throughout that the Conservatives are one family.
"We are now united behind new Prime Minister Liz Truss as she leads the country through difficult times," said the former Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Prior to the 2001 leadership contest, the Conservative Party changed its internal election rules to give members the final say so no leader received less than 60 percent of the vote.
Truss won 57 per cent of the member vote, compared to 66.4 per cent for Boris Johnson in 2019, 67.6 per cent for David Cameron in 2005 and 60.7 per cent for Iain Duncan Smith in 2001.
Theresa did not face a membership ballot in May 2016 when her opponent Andrea Leadsom withdrew after the first round, the news reported.
The more than 1.5 million-strong Indian Diaspora - many of whom voted Conservative in the election - stood firm against the UK-born MP for Richmond, Yorkshire, which other sections of the Conservative Party felt would further divide parts of the subcontinent, including those who trace their origins to others.
"After 12 years of the Tories all we have to show for it is low wages, high prices and a Tory cost of living crisis. Only Labor can give our country the fresh start it needs," said Starmer, who he congratulated. A new Prime Minister was elected.
Other opposition leaders were similarly critical as Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for a general election.
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