Will defeated Rishi Sunak now vote Leave (the Commons)?

Will defeated Rishi Sunak now vote Leave (the Commons)? Defeated ex-chancellor insists he will STAY in politics instead of fleeing to work in the US and urges Tories to ‘unite behind the new PM’ after losing leadership to Liz Truss

  • The former chancellor faces questions over his own future after losing election
  •  Last night he dismissed rumours he will quit Commons and head for California
  • Today said; ‘It’s right we now unite behind the new PM as she steers the country’

Rishi Sunak urged the Tories to rally round rival Liz Truss today as she took the party leadership from his grasp.

The former chancellor faces questions over his own future after losing out to the foreign secretary in the race for No10. 

Last night he dismissed rumours he will quit the Commons and head for California – where he previously worked – insisting he wants to stay as MP for Richmond in Yorkshire.

Instead he stressed he would continue to ‘support the Conservative government’, even though there are signs Ms Truss will not offer him a job in her Cabinet. 

The 2022 campaign was marred by brutal infighting, mainly over the economy and often carried out on live television. 

After the announcement at lunchtime he tweeted: ‘Thank you to everyone who voted for me in this campaign. I’ve said throughout that the Conservatives are one family.

‘It’s right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times.’

The former chancellor faces questions over his own future after losing out to the foreign secretary in the race for No10. 

After the announcement at lunchtime he tweeted: ‘Thank you to everyone who voted for me in this campaign. I’ve said throughout that the Conservatives are one family. ‘It’s right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times.’

Mr Sunak made cutting inflation before taxes the main plank of his campaign. He said the eventual winner’s plan to cut taxes first was an ‘economic fantasy’.

In turn, Truss’s supports labelled the uber-rich ex-chancellor a ‘socialist’ for his record of increasing taxes to help pay for the wreckage of Covid.

Ms Truss vowed to be ‘bold’ in cutting taxes and reviving the economy after defeating Mr Sunak.

She takes the helm of a country in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis after seeing off the former chancellor’s challenge with support from 81,326 party members, compared to Mr Sunak’s 60,399.

The 57 per cent to 43 per cent result – closer than some had expected – was announced by 1922 committee chair Sir Graham Brady in a glitzy ceremony at the QE2 Centre in Westminster.

Ms Truss said it was an ‘honour’ to be the new leader of the ‘greatest political party on Earth’. ‘I know that our beliefs resonate with the British people,’ she said.

‘I campaigned as a Conservative and I will govern as a Conservative… I will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy.’

She added: ‘We will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024.’

When BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg pointed yesterday to clips of him praising California, Mr Sunak – reputed to be one of the richest MPs with a billionaire heiress wife – said: ‘I’m going to stay as a Member of Parliament.’

Revealing he was with activists in his constituency after the campaign formally ended on Friday, Mr Sunak said: ‘It’s been a great privilege to represent them as their Member of Parliament for Richmond in north Yorkshire, I’d love to keep doing that as long as they’ll have me.’

He added: ‘It’s presumptuous for me to say because I have to get selected by my own members. But I was with them on Friday night and it’s been a great privilege to represent them. And I know I can do good work for them.’

Asked if he would run in the leadership again if he does not win this time, Mr Sunak said: ‘Oh gosh. We’ve just finished this campaign. So, I’d say … I need to recover from this one. But I look forward to supporting the Conservative government in whatever capacity.’

Asked if that is a yes, he said: ‘No gosh, no no no, I think my job now is just to support a Conservative government. That’s what I want to see succeed and that’s what I’ll do.’

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