As the UK Conservative party leadership race hots up, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has notched up the support of at least 100 MPs, making him the first candidate to reach that threshold.
Sunak has not formally launched his campaign for the party leadership. Nor has former prime minister Boris Johnson, who has rushed back to the UK from the Caribbean where he was holidaying.
Johnson’s supporters are piecing together his campaign, and reports say he has garnered the support of about 50 MPs. The only candidate who has formally announced the candidacy is the House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, who claims the support of a couple of dozen MPs.
The Tory leadership guidelines stipulate that a candidate needs to secure the support of at least 100 MPs. If more than one person crosses that threshold, the MPs will vote to select two finalists. The Tory leader will then be chosen by more than 170,000 Conservative party members who will hold an online vote next week. The expedited leadership contest will mean that the party will finish the process before next Friday.
Having garnered the support of at least 100 MPs, Indian-origin Sunak has emerged as the hot favorite. He had run a spirited campaign against Liz Truss following the resignation of Johnson as prime minister. Sunak had not joined the cabinet of Truss.
Though Sunak’s credentials as the finance minister were impressive, one of the things that kept him away from vast public support was his wealth and perceived lack of connection with ordinary voters.
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So, how much is Sunak worth?
A Guardian report says that Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty are worth a combined fortune of about £730m. If Sunak is elected as the British prime minister, he will be the first PM who is wealthier than the reigning monarch. The paper says that King Charles III and the queen consort has an estimated net worth of about £350 million.
Sunak, who is married to the daughter of billionaire Indian tech tycoon NR Narayana Murthy of Infosys, is the only mainstream politician who was featured in the Sunday Times Rich List of the wealthiest people in the country.
