“Simply Not The Right Time” – Sunak Set To Be Next UK PM As BoJo Suddenly Backs Out

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suddenly (and unexpectedly) pulled out of the UK’s Conservative Party leadership contest, leaving the path for former Chancellor Rishi Sunak almost unstoppable.

The Daily Mail reports that as of this evening, 228 out of 357 Tory MPs have gone public with their support (as a reminder, candidates need 100 nominations from Tory MPs by 2pm tomorrow if they are to remain in contention ahead of a final poll of party members).

Mr Sunak is understood to have 146 backers and Penny Mordaunt just 24.

Mr Johnson had 57 public backers, but his decision to bow out comes despite allies having claimed this evening that he did, in fact, have the 100 MP nominations required to remain in the race.

The former prime minister will not stand for the Tory leadership and said that due to the failure to reach a deal with Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt:

“I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds”.

“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time,” he added.

As we suggested last week, investors were likely to sell the pound and gilts in the event of a Johnson or Mordaunt victory, while a Sunak win would probably support UK assets for a while because he is seen as having a morer fiscally conservative perspective.

For now, Cable’s gains are extending as the FX market starts to price in Sunak…

Of course, the big question is…

How many days will Rishi Sunak survive as PM

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 23, 2022

However, the bigger picture is that of an imminent landslide defeat for the Tories in the next general election.

A survey of 2,400 voters by Find out Now and Electoral Calculus, showed that the Tories would take 23 per cent of the vote under Mr Sunak, with Labour on 53 per cent.

Translated into seats, it would mean a majority of more than 400 for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.