Rishi Sunak set to become Britain's next prime minister

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak is set to become the UK's next prime minister, after his only other challenger failed to get the backing of enough Conservative MPs.

There was a 15:00 CET deadline for any candidates to replace Liz Truss to submit their nomination papers, and the names of a hundred Conservative politicians who were backing them.

In a short statement, Tory party official Sir Graham Brady said only one name had received enough support.

Rishi Sunak's only other potential challenger, Penny Mordaunt, wrote on Twitter that Sunak had her "full support."

"We all owe it to the country, to each other and to Rishi to unite and work together for the good of the nation."

Sunak was a former finance minister in Boris Johnson's government, but quit in July, helping trigger a rebellion that bought Johnson down.

He will be Britain's third prime minister in just seven weeks as he succeeds Liz Truss. The 42-year-old multi-millionaire will be the UK's first PM from a British-Asian background.

(Source BBC)