A clear frontrunner to take over from Liz Truss as Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister remains uncertain on Friday due to deep divisions among the Tories, but the bookies’ odds have rocketed in favour of British Indian former chancellor Rishi Sunak.As the runner up of the leadership election which concluded last month, the former finance minister who had forecast much of the economic crisis unleashed by Truss’ mini-budget is seen as a safe pair of hands to take charge at 10 Downing Street.The 42-year-old is holding a solid 55 per cent lead with the Oddschecker betting odds aggregator, followed by a 29 per cent chance of former prime minister Boris Johnson making a comeback. Third placed in what is emerging as a three-way contest is Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, who had polled third in the first round of parliamentary votes to shortlist candidates for the last leadership race.
I back Rishi Sunak to be our next PM. He has the plan and credibility to: restore financial stability, help get inflation down and deliver sustainable tax cuts over time; and unite the Conservatives by bringing the best talent into government to deliver for the British people, tweeted former Cabinet minister Dominic Raab, among the first of nearly 50 MPs to openly declare support for Sunak.Amid Opposition calls for an immediate general election, there is a frenzy among the governing Tories to find a successor for Truss, who now holds the ignominious title of being the shortest serving incumbent at 10 Downing Street after resigning on Thursday just 44 days after being elected to office.Under the rules set of this Tory leadership race, a candidate must have a minimum of 100 members of Parliament backing them to make the shortlist by the Monday 2pm local time deadline. A comeback for partygate-hit Johnson is increasingly looking likely with reports that he has the support of around 140 MPs.The former prime minister, who was holidaying in the Caribbean, is believed to be on a flight back to get his leadership campaign going quickly.”I’m backing Boris #BorisorBust,” tweeted UK Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, one of the head cheerleaders from the Johnson camp.